Quantum Shift
by RebeccaRoy
Summary: Ending up in the Harry Potter world sounds cool right? Not really when one ends up as Dolores Umbridge and has to figure out how to change things without being found out. A mentor fic.
1. Chapter 1: I am Who?

_Disclaimer:_

_I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, these belong to that wonderful author JK Rowling and the various publishing companies used to publish her works. I am however borrowing them, no not to make money but for fun and fun only. _

_Summary:_

_Self inserts can be tricky, so I took the route of ending up as Doloris Umbridge, a character I really hate. So how will this turn out? Read to find out._

_So I hate Umbridge, she was horrible, foul and evil. So what better way to get revenge than basically take over her body and change the world? Okay try to change the world, that is where my self-insert comes in. She was average in her previous life and ends up in a new world in the body of one woman she really hates and the fun begins! Oh and before anyone flames me how I spelled her name, it's intentional, to differentiate from the real Doloris Umbridge._

_Now I hate Umbridge (I can't stress that enough, she is vile, lithesome and a horrible, evil person. What happens here is not the real Umbridge changing, oh no, it's the person who ended up as her changing a few things. To me this is a great way to get revenge on Umbridge, as I can't really get my strong hands around her fat neck and squeeze, this revenge will have to do. I hope you enjoy my attempt at revenge, though it might on the surface look like revenge. It is, oh how it is._

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

Chapter One: I am who?

I went to bed a normal hardworking American woman. Two cats at home in a nice large one bedroom flat with a wall of bookcases full of books, a computer to follow everything I wanted and a nice view of the small town downtown from my windows. I woke up in a bed that was not my own. First thing to let me know is the fact the sheets, blanket and even the curtains were pink. Now I don't dislike pink but this, this was too much! I wondered where I was and got up to go do my morning duties realizing the floor was a lot closer than before. I went into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror and very nearly screamed.

Looking back at me was a middle-aged woman, short fat and with curlers in her gray hair. She had watery brown eyes and a face that looked, well frog-like. The memories came then, and I sat on the toilet holding my head in my hands. I felt it then, how could I not? The magical tingle for a lack of a better word, I walked from the bathroom into my bedroom and saw the wand, grabbing it with stubby fingers I cast the first spell I could think of, _Lumos. _My wand lit up, for it was for all intents and purposes my wand now. I was the one character aside from Voldemort I hated most in all of Harry Potter, Doloris Umbridge and I was not happy. I had to sort my mind out, luckily Doloris was good at Occulumency, most purebloods like her were.

I decided to organize my mind as I showered, after all in my past life a nice bath or shower always helped. I had to get used to being this woman, no matter how much I hated her. I learned things, she had been married but was widowed now as Greyback had her husband for lunch (good reason to hate werewolves) and she had a superiority complex a mile high, oh and she thought of Harry Potter as a filthy liar and no good rotten as his father. Then again she really did have a reason for that, her son, a ugly boy by the name of Darcy had been teased and hounded by the marauders so much so he had moved out of England shortly after finishing his NEWTs to America. However Doloris was as unpleasant and cruel a person as she could get away with, never one to get caught she had done a lot of very horrible things.

I learned she was Hufflepuff, had the hat put her there. She knew she was ugly, knew too people would not take her as a threat. But when a victim came close she would pounce and deal with them anyway she could. Right now she had been working on getting a couple of Dementors to Privet Drive for a date with a certain boy. She truly saw Harry Potter as a threat and one that had be removed from society. She made me sick, but now that I was her I could change things, Cornelius did take my advice to heart and maybe I could make this work? I did have a meeting with him today, two weeks after the Triwizard cup ended and Cedric Diggory died.

"Floppy!" I called for my house elf, and a small creature clad in a pink pillowcase over a sage green tunic and trousers popped into view, "is breakfast ready?"

"Oh yes mistress, your favorites today!" Floppy said beaming.

"Good, I shall have it here." I replied.

I was relieved to find out that Doloris was not bad to house elves, she did not punish them as they did exactly what she wanted when she wanted. Still she had that superiority complex that I did not like but would have to get used to if I was going to change anything around here. I had my breakfast, the full English kind which really was quite good, the tea I had to get used to though Doloris liked it well enough. No _I _was Doloris now, and had to get use to that fact. After breakfast I finished getting ready for the day and frowned at the robes I had. Of all the clothing Doloris chose to wear what she had did not flatter her figure at all. Well she was more a square than anything but a corset or something would have solved that problem and though pink is nice she really should not have worn it head to toe. I refused to wear the stupid pink bow as that really did not suit a middle aged woman at all.

I did not have time for shopping as I had to get to my meeting with Cornelius, all the while wondering how I was to change the future. I had a position of power to be sure, and a knowledge of Rowling's world. I could really mess things up here if I just barged into things. No I had to be careful, though things would change for Harry soon enough if I had my way. I Apparated to the Apparation point in the ministry, it was unpleasant but not overtly so. I checked my wand and headed up to Cornelius office, walking by a red headed young man in navy robes that could only be Percy Weasley. The books are spot on with how Cornelius looks and acts and with my memories I knew how to get on his good side and stay there and it _did not_ involve sex let me tell you!

"My dear Deloris how good to see you!" Cornelius said beaming.

"I saw you two days ago Cornelius, but it is good to see you as well." I replied, "Dumbledore still causing problems?"

"Oh yes, and Harry Potter as well, his lies must be stopped!" Cornelius snapped.

"Well it's a shame he got off with murder free and clear." I said choosing my words very carefully, "what if we brought him in, forced him to give memories to the false claims he is giving and once done chuck him into Azkaban?"

"That could work, but I do not know where he lives." Cornelius replied.

"I do." Came the voice of Percy who had listened in, "I am sorry for overhearing what you had to say but I know where that murdering liar lives."

Now here is where Doloris is sort of redeemable, okay no she is not. But she had a reason to set two Dementors on Harry Potter, she thought he had committed murder and wanted him dead. What she did much later, well that was pure evil and I was determined that she never got the chance to destroy so many lives again. We got the address and it was pretty easy to go get Harry Potter, one day later and he was in my office. I was not surprised at how he looked, oh he was not bruised or beaten or starved if that was what you were thinking. No Harry Potter was a normal teen boy, average looking in fact and let's face it he was going through a growth spurt so at bit awkward looking due to that. If not for the horrid glasses and baggy clothing he would have been pleasant enough to look at though his hair was really a rats nest of raven and his green eyes really were a startling shade of green rarely seen in nature.

"Do you know why you are here Mr. Potter?" I asked the boy.

"It's for getting Cedric killed." Harry replied.

"I want your memories of how he died, now." I demanded, sure I was being rude but I had to, lest any grew suspicious of me."

"I-I don't know how." He stammered.

"Think of the time you were gone with Cedric, put yer wand to yer head and draw out the memory and put it in this pensive." Dawlish, a stocky Auror with blond hair and a sneer and loyal to the minster and men said, "that way we can prosecute you faster."

Harry did as he was told and everyone in the room, Cornelius, myself and Dawlish entered the pensive and watched the scene before us. I was horrified at what I was seeing, I mean reading about it was one thing, being there to see what went on was far worse. When Harry was cursed with the _Crucio _curse I let out a gasp and felt for the poor boy, the duel was amazing but still said he had to fight that. We all came out of the pensive a time later (though on the outside only a minute had passed) and we were all very pale and shaken up. Cornelius looked as if he wanted to cry, he was no warrior and I felt for him, but now I had a plan forming and was going to put it to good use, first thing was first.

"I was wrong, he is back!" Cornelius stammered. "What do we do now?"

"Send Mr. Potter home for the time being." I said and at the look of betrayal on Harry's face, "I will come speak to you later, you need to trust me now."

"But what are you going to do?" Harry whined, teens, so dramatic and he was a stressed teen boy, oh joy.

"I can't tell you now, but trust me alright?" I said, "I promise I will tell you what I can when it is safe."

"Safe from what?" Harry demanded.

"You, do you know Occulumency?" I asked.

"What is that?" Harry asked, add uneducated teen boy to my worries about him. "It's a way to shield your mind. You will go home and I will come see you in two days."

"Fine." Harry said, add moody teen boy, oh joy.

"Good, now off you go."

Harry left and I was left with Cornelius and had to come up with a way to get him to up the Aurors. As much as I would have liked to I could not have him state publically that Voldemort was back now, that would cause far too much trouble. No now was the time for subterfuge as we needed to be ready for when Voldemort did come back into the open. Yet there was one thing we could use now and I was going to have fun with this, Cornelius now knew about Wormtail and I was coming up with a plan I was sure was going to work very well indeed.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Yes I hate Doloris Umbridge but if one was to end up as her in the Harry Potter world there is so much good one could do. She was evil and cruel but here, well with knowledge of the world one can change things. However a gentle touch is needed, my heroine could not just run roughshod all over the ministry and have everyone fine with that. No she would end up in Azkaban faster than you can say boo. _

_I am not being mean to Harry, if I had a chance to work with him I would not coddle him and would be a bit sharp at times. But I would care about him and let him know I did but I sure as hell would not let the boy get away with anything! He is a boy, a boy with a destiny to be sure but still so young, he needs someone on his side who will help him grow into a good strong young man. He can't become that if he is coddled after all._

_Anyway do review please!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Grim and a Deal

Chapter Two: The Grim and a Deal:

I talked with Cornelius most of the rest of the day, we finally did bring in Amelia Bones, she was older than me, her gray hair done up in a bun and she was a no-nonsense woman. After seeing the memory for herself she agreed to keep it secret for now and secretly get the Auror and hit wizards beefed up. It would be behind the scenes and we had only a year if Voldemort was massing his army, but she promised to have an army ready to go. With that taken care of we turned to another problem, one Sirius Black. Now he was innocent, very much so and we had the proof, with my knowledge I knew all about the Black family and having Sirius working for us would be tricky but worth it. In the end it was easy to get him, tell him I knew of his innocence, an untraceable portkey a stunner and I had myself one reluctant captive.

I must say I was impressed with Sirius, he was tall and had started to fill out from his time in Azkaban no doubt to Molly Weasley's cooking. He was quite a tall man with roguish good looks, his hair was long and shaggy and nearly black and hung to his shoulders, he had a clean shaven face but for a goatee and his gray eyes blazed with fury when he found himself bound to a chair in my company. He had quite a vocabulary and swore at me in several different languages oh and the temper was impressive too. I sat in the small room Cornelius watching as I made my deal with the future lord Black.

"We know you are innocent." I said, "we saw Mr. Potter's memories."

"Is Harry alright, if you have hurt him…"

"No, but I have a pardon here for you." I said, "for any crimes, past, present or future as long as you do not kill any innocents and leave those alone I ask you to." I said.

"What is the catch?" He asked.

"Catch is until you get Wormtail you do not contact your friends, or the order of the Phoenix," at the look of surprise from Sirius, "yes I know all about that and who is in it, you disappear and I leave them alone, if a few death eaters end up dead well there is your pardon."

"This for real, not a trick?" Sirius asked.

"Lord Black you were wronged, never given a trial, I want to amend that and let you get your revenge."

"Not a lord yet."

"Go to the goblins and then get your revenge." I said.

"Fine, deal, but you better take care of Harry, he needs it." Sirius said.

"I promise I will." I replied.

I unbound him and let him get up, he was so very tall! Now for the second part I had sent a letter to him, one I had my house elf write for me. One thing in this world, house elves are taught to read and right, and they can speak many different languages. Yet here in England at least they are treated like vermin and stupid, as if they have no minds of their own. Here Doloris was a tiny bit more progressive than others who had house elves (I still refused to think of owning another sentient being) she used hers for more than house work and errands. An anonymous letter here and there got many of her enemies imprisoned or worse, and my elf Floppy was used to my having her write letters. Then again she was so devoted to me as I never let her punish herself but come to me. Oh Doloris had not done that out of kindness no, but she knew a loyal slave who loved her was better than a tortured slave who served only out of fear.

Now I had sent Sirius Black a letter regarding a rumor that Regulus was not as loyal to the dark lord as was thought. For him to ask his house elf if that were the case as I was rumored Regulus trusted his elves and did not abuse them. One thing I had learned from being in this world for the short time I had from Doloris's mind and a history book I had got and read was the fact the Black family had not always been a dark family. Yes, it seems that around the time of the headmaster Black Phineas the family had been known for hunting dark creatures and the like. The decline of the house came much more recent, at the start of the twentieth century and was led by a witch named Cassiopeia Black who had started an appalling tradition of cutting off the heads of house elves and putting them on the wall of Grimmauld Place. If Sirius Black could stay alive than the house of Black could become noble once more.

"So why me?" He asked, "you just let me waltz on out of here and do what ever I want why?"

"You know your family history, not the modern but your true family history." I said, "it's why you chose Gryffindor, its why you defied your family, no you didn't not really, you are a true Black and should be proud of that."

"Yea, right, you try living where I do." Sirius said, "at least my brother was honorable."

"How so?" Cornelius asked.

"He did something to help take down the dark lord, something I intend to see through." Sirius replied. "Sorry minister but I can't tell you, too dangerous."

"Very well, but I would like your permission as the guardian of Harry Potter to teach him Occulumency." I said.

"Granted and gladly, I would love to teach him but my head, well its not on strange you know. Could say I am a bit mad, it runs in the family." He said grinning, "but never fear I will never go evil!"

"Good, if you do I get to kill you, speaking of which these are the people you cannot harm." I said handing him a list of names, "you do and you die got it?"

"Yea but why is Snapes name on this list?" He asked.

"I plan on dealing with him myself." I replied. "Oh and do not let Dumbledore know about this, I doubt he would approve."

"I know," Sirius gave a truly sinister grin, "thanks for the pardon!"

I was not sure if it was the greatest idea to let Sirius Black loose to do what the Blacks were formerly known to be good at. Yet what choice was there? Dumbledore refused to kill anyone, and that had cost so much in innocent lives. He was no soldier at all, he was a philosopher and in my opinion philosophers should stick to running schools or sacred places and leave war to those like me. In my former life, before I ended up here I came from a long line of family who were soldiers and knew that you do have to kill in war, something Dumbledore did not get. Sirius was a loose cannon, I know that, I mean his idea of a prank? Use a good friend of his who was a werewolf once a month, send a school mate of his he did not like to visit said werewolf and end of disliked school mate. Yes I am sure he wanted Snape dead, he never apologized and if that was his idea of a prank I knew we had the right man for the job ahead.

I had so much I wanted to change but knew I could not just charge into things. I was grateful that I had Occulumency and archery skills? Yes Doloris Umbridge was part of the archery club at Hogwarts, seemed there were quite a few clubs at Hogwarts. She had been part of the archery club, had taken witches studies, something Harry would never take that was only for witches, a sewing and housekeeping class that had as many boys as girls (Harry did not need that I am sure he knew how to take care of a house very well with his relations) and a football club. There were lots of clubs for different types of magic too, and the professors that taught were not the ones who ran them, no it seemed that villagers from Hogsmeade had day jobs at Hogwarts for clubs, security, day and night.

I could go on about what Doloris knew but I had work to do. Sirius would do what he did and he was a loose cannon but I hoped that he could deal with death eaters, I was going to have to help shape and mold Harry and lets face it, aside from my nieces and nephews I had no experience with teens. Okay no experience, how was I to deal with a teen? They were still children yet so close to adulthood. I took my leave of Cornelius and headed out for a day of shopping. It seemed that Doloris and I had similar views on shopping, something that had to be done but nothing more. I decided to go to a magical beauty shop, I was not going for a radical makeover, if anyone asked I could explain I was trying to look more like a professor. Doloris was known for changing, she had after her husband had died, opting out for black to wear pink, as her husband had loved her in pink, though I thought she over did it. A middle aged woman approached me at the beauty stop and I proposed what I needed.

"I want to change my looks, not look well so frumpy." I said. "I am not looking to be pretty, no hope for that, but if you could help me with a bit of a figure or something like that?"

"That I can, your robes first are all wrong for your figure, and the pink all over has to go. If you want to wear a bit of pink that is fine and we can really work with that." Mary Lou said, "have you ever worn a corset?"

"No, a girdle but not a corset, I always thought they hurt your innards?"

"No, not if you do not wear them too tight, and I can make you look pretty. Mary Lou said, "you are not as ugly as you think."

"I look like a toad." I retorted.

"Well you will like what I do for you."

Most of what Mary Lou did involved not magic but muggle methods. She explained why, charms and such just did not cut it and as most of her clients wanted to look themselves but better she had the solution for that. My hair was washed, died a nice brown, I was shown how to put on a light bit of makeup and finally helped to find the right "foundation garments" as Mary Lou called them. The end result to me was still a toad but a toad that could be taken seriously. Now the word robes in the magical world do not always mean robes as we would think. They call everything robes, even muggle clothes that the children do wear. So the robe Cornelius wears were a pinstriped three pieced suit with black pinstriped robes over them, he always wore a lime green tie and bowler hat though. Most men followed his lead in fashion, all but Dumbledore who did wear robes. I was clad in a nice navy suit that with the corset gave me a full figure, the skirt came to just above my ankles and I was wearing a pink shirt.

"There, you look pretty." Mary Lou said beaming at her work.

"Thank you, I would like a few more suits." I said.

"How about a nice dark green, a charcoal gray and a navy pinstripe, no on second thought no pinstripe, how about maroon?"

"Yes please."

I left the shop with a whole new look, at least I would be taken seriously, conservative suits would go over far better with my new colleagues at Hogwarts than pink robes and head bows! I was going to have to get on the good side of the teachers at Hogwarts if I was to change anything. This was why I spent the rest of the day writing letters, stating I was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and doing my best to explain that I was concerned about the last defense teachers. I blamed Dumbledore without blaming him and voiced my concerns for the children. I could only hope though my letters I was seen as someone who cared about the students not an usurper from the ministry.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So there is another change here. As both Umbridge and Fudge know that Harry is telling the truth and saw Wormtail the best thing to do? Pardon Sirius for any past, present or future crimes and let him loose. Sirius was under used in the series, but as it was a kids story Jo kept him locked up at Grimmauld place, well she could have let him loose and kept what he did in the background. Here I am using him as lets face it even with thirteen years in Azkaban he still has to have connections. Still I did release a dangerous Black on the world and it's dicey how high the body count might get._

_As for a makeover, trust me she is not glamorous, no way to do that. However I made her look more respectable and someone you can take seriously. I mean pink bows in ones hair at her age? Not a good look, she is not going to become a romantic anything nor will she ever be caught dead in muggle clothes! That would kind of give away the game as it where would it not?_

_Anyway please do review!_


	3. Chapter 3: A Dursley Deal

Chapter Three: A Dursley Deal:

The day came I was to meet with Harry, I knew I had to meet with his relations and I planned on scaring the hell out of them. They deserved it after all, sure Harry had been dropped off on their doorstep with them given no chance to accept him. That might be fine to do in the magical world (heating charms and sleeping charms do work wonders and magical people do not think anything of getting a baby on the doorstep) but in the muggle world? Not so much. I was dressed in a new suit and walked from Mrs. Figg's house, I had written her and asked to use her floo as I knew she was in the neighborhood Harry lived and a squib. One cannot Apparate where one has not been I learned and so I took the floo finding it very interesting and a bit fun. I rang the bell of the house and found myself looking up at a tall fat man clad in an expensive suit, his dark hair perfectly combed with a large mustache and beady blue eyes. Next to him was Petunia, a tall really thin woman with long neck, a face that resembled a horse and perfectly done hair and clad in an expensive dress.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley?" I asked.

"Yes, come in, from the ministry of that world?" Vernon said glaring at me.

"Yes, I came to talk with you, I am sorry it took so many years, after all we were not notified where Harry Potter was living and if we had we could have helped you." More like conjure a mallet to hit them with, "what a lovely house!"

"Er right, in here then." Vernon said, really he could learn some manners.

The lounge as the British call their living room was a very feminine room with real wood floors that extended throughout the house with an expensive handmade Persian rug on the floor. This whole house was perfect with top of the line everything and _boring_. I mean I had back in my former life artwork one of my friends painted on the walls, couches that were covered with slipcovers because they were so ugly but comfortable and lots and lots of books. The flat I had now had a few too many frilly touches but it was not boring like this home. A tall stocky boy with blond hair and features similar to his father came in the room. He had his hands on his rear and I nearly laughed, so that must be Dudley. Last to enter the room was Harry, he was clad in his school uniform, minus the robe, and I realized this was the only formal clothing he owned aside from his dress robes of the year before.

"So what did the boy do this time?" Vernon said glaring at Harry.

"Oh it's not what he did." I replied, "in fact he did nothing wrong, tell me what do you know of his parent's deaths?"

"Voldemort." Petunia spat the name, and I was shocked she said the name at all, "he killed them, but I lost my sister long before that, when that horrible boy told her she was a witch and took her away from me!"

"Well he is back, and unlike decent muggle folk like you and magical folk like me he does not believe in keeping the worlds separate." I replied, "Mr. Potter here was kidnapped last year, blood was taken from him forcibly and he was forced to watch this dark lord come back. Then he was tortured and taunted by followers of this same dark lord not to mention he had to watch a good friend killed as well."

It was amazing to see the look of utter shock and horror on the faces of the Dursley family. Well all but Dudley who was looking at Harry in a very new light I am sure. Maybe the pig in a wig was redeemable, the rest of the family sure was not. I could see Petunia knew what this meant, she looked at Harry and then started to cry, served her right the selfish cow. I knew she was not crying for Harry but her family and what this meant to her and her _normal_ world. I had seen the memories (from Harry, really he could not close his mind as of yet), I had read the books and I was not going to be nice to her at all. Vernon had an excuse for pushing Harry aside, but Petunia had no such excuse as he was her flesh and blood after all and she could have been decent to him!

"However things are not all that bad, this dark lord could destroy the world and you would be perfectly safe, all of you here in this cozy house." I said.

"How is that?" Vernon asked.

"Well there were blood wards cast on this property by Lily." I said, (and yes they really are there, I checked and the signature was all Lily), "she did it to protect you, and with Harry here you are safe."

"Hang on this Voldemort fellow, he has Harry's blood." Vernon said, "how can that stop him from getting to us?"

"Well suffice to say that the protections that protect Harry do not protect him." I said. (Witches magic is a tricky thing, Voldemort could touch Harry yes but he really could not cross the blood wards, in fact keep Harry at Privet Drive and Voldemort could never reach him at all, I could understand why Dumbledore kept him here but for him to never explain things to anyone for so long really upset me). "You are safe as long as he can call this place home."

"Wait you said blood wards, his blood is here why does he have to be here?" Dudley asked, hmm, he does have more than one brain cell, "I mean why does he have to be here?"

"Needs a heartbeat to work, that of young Harry here." I replied, "now this is all touching but with this dark lord back Harry needs training, he will still sleep here at night but during the day he will train with me."

"He going to defeat this Voldemort?" Vernon asked.

"There is a chance of that as this dark lord keeps coming after him." I replied. "He stays alive and well you are protected."

"Fine, now you listen here boy, I don't like magic I never will, abnormal trip, however you will do as Mrs. Umbridge says or so help me I will make you wish you were dead!" Vernon snarled at Harry.

"Yes uncle Vernon." Harry replied.

"Good, now why don't you take him now, you understand that I do not wish to see you here again?" Petunia said.

"Of course, come Mr. Potter."

Gee what a _lovely_ family, I could see Harry was doing his best to hide the hurt. I could feel for him, it had to hurt when your own family did not want you, and the only reason they kept you now and let you train was to keep themselves safe. Vernon was not being nice to Harry letting him study magic and sadly I knew he only allowed it to keep his family safe, he had never bothered to get to know Harry at all. Just gave him houseroom and at the best ignored him (at least I was hoping that is all he did), Petunia was the shrew and Dudley, well maybe there was some redemption in him, there was in the books after all. I led Harry to Mrs. Figg's house and knocked, at once the door opened and the gray haired smiling visage of Mrs. Figg came to view. She was clad in a bright green dress and purple shoes and she ushered us into her house. Mrs. Figg smiled at Harry and Harry smiled back warmly, huh something was going on here and I wondered at that.

"Mrs. Figg, are you a witch?" Harry asked.

"Oh no Harry, just a squib, I wanted to tell you before but well I could not, thank you for the Christmas cards and sweets." Mrs. Figg then turning to me, "he is such a dear boy, each year he has gone to Hogwarts I got a package in the mail, a Christmas card and lots of chocolate and other sweets that Harry knows I love."

"Well you cared about me." Harry said blushing, "my relations don't know, thought I hated it here, I told them all you did was talk about your cats, but you cared, you taught me piano and French and never got mad at me, you even gave me biscuits and milk too."

"You helped take care of him?" I asked.

"Oh yes, bet old Dumbledore did not realize an old squib was living so close, you notice how different this house looks from the others in this suburb? Well it is a historical home, believed to be the inspiration of the house used in _Through the Looking Glass_. I am well off you know, mostly my husband."

Now this was new to me, I thought that the fan-fictions and canon had it right, that Mrs. Figg was part of the order of the phoenix first time around and Dumbledore put her here. To realize he had not even put anyone here to really watch Harry really upset me. Sure the blood wards protected Harry from magical threats but what about from his relations? Dumbledore was really getting on my bad side and that was saying something with what he did in the last book. I was beginning to think he liked to use others in some sort of sick game, what he did to Severus Snape was criminal in the least. He betrayed him and so many, many others as well as far as I was concerned and he would pay for it.

"So not only did that stupid pederast leave an innocent baby on a doorstep he never left anyone to make sure the Mr. Potter survived to Hogwarts?" I said coldly.

"Dumbledore is many things." Mrs. Figg said, "but a pederast is not one of them, that would be an instant death sentence in our world."

"Um what is a pederast?" Harry asked.

"A man who likes sex with boys under the age of eighteen, mostly those who are under the age of puberty." Mrs. Figg replied, "though the headmaster does beat for the other team he is not evil like that."

"He beats for the other team, oh, that, huh I never knew." Harry said not caring one way or another.

"I think he advertises it really well myself." I replied, "well! Enough of that, I am here to teach you before Hogwarts, Dumbledore is not to know, anyone who might be here to protect or guard you is not to know, if I know Dumbledore he has guards here just in case this dark lord tries to attack, though he would be stupid if he did. I am going to teach you Occulumency, as your mind is open right now I need to teach you how to close it."

"Ah alright then." Harry said.

"It's why I visited your relations, they will leave you alone, if they do not I can make their lives very unpleasant." I said, "there are things I cannot tell you Mr. Potter…"

"Harry, please call me Harry."

"Alright then Harry, right now there are things I cannot tell you, but I promise that once I see you have learned Occulumency I will tell you what I can, all I ask is you do your level best to learn what I have to teach you. I will not lie, it can be painful to learn Occulumency but I will do my best to not hurt you. Now a bit of a secret."

"What?" Harry asked looking hopeful and worried at once.

"Once you learn to control and close your mind you can learn to become an Animagmus." I said, I left off that I could teach him as it seemed I was an Animagmus myself, you can guess what animal and you would be right. I handed him a schedule, "now we have a lot to go over this summer, as you learn to block your mind I can tell you more but for now please trust me. Oh and the _Quibbler_ is nice this time of year."

"What is the _Quibbler_?" Harry asked.

"Well I was thinking you want the truth out there, you could, not that I am making you but you could get the truth out through them, maybe you know someone who could do the interview?" I said. "Though I never told you that you understand."

"Right." Harry said a slow grin coming over his face.

I found over the next four weeks I had with Harry he was a bright young man. He did well in school, true at Hogwarts he did slack off a bit but still he was in the top six of his class. The Dursleys had never cared one wit his grades, as long as he did not do magic they could care less how he did in school. I found he loved math and got him some Arithmancy books that he loved and I got him books on magical customs and law too. I did have to go into his mind, with his permission and use witches magic to block Voldemort from entering his mind. Yes there is witches magic that only witches can use, I will leave it at that. Occulumency came along rather well, there was one book on it and Harry read it cover to cover and did his best with me. He had headaches from it (part of the learning process) but he was a trooper to be sure in learning.

I found he learned best when he knew the person teaching him really cared, and I did. He was a sweet boy, really kind and though a bit moody once and a while (what teen is not, its not their fault, they just have to be taught to control it after all) he really was enjoyable to get along with. I took him shopping where he insisted on spending his own money though I compromised. Poor Harry, all he wanted was to be cared for and loved and no wonder he would do as I asked when I showed I really did care. Two weeks before term he was to go stay with his friends and I was to go to Hogwarts. I felt he was my responsibility now and to hell with the prophecy or anything like that, I wanted to keep him alive and well because dammit I cared about him as if he were my own kid!

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Now I know some people might give me flack for how I portrayed the Dursleys here. However if Vernon knew that a certain terrorist was back and was targeting his family and only his "freaky" nephew could stop him and protect the family, I am sure he would do whatever it took to make sure the treat was eliminated. Dumbledore had a flaw that seems to run the magical race over, he was racist himself, for all his talk about protecting muggles he never did get to know them. If he had he would have spoke to Vernon and told him about Voldemort, his fears the blood wards and all. Flame me if you like but if things were explained to Vernon I could see him being reasonable and cooperating too. Though he would still not like magic at all I am sure._

_Now I am sure people have wondered why I have spelled Doloris differently, it's to show that she is a different person now. Speaking of that she is not blowing her cover as it were with training Harry. It is perfectly natural for one after learning certain truths to change. Fudge believes that the only reason she is helping Harry is to stop Voldemort and that is just how Doloris wants it. But she does care about him, really cares as I would and she will not coddle him or hold things from him unless she has to and he knows it. I knew he would have done better in canon if someone said "your mind is an open book, I cannot tell you anything as you are connect to the dark lord" Harry would have done everything to close his mind after learning that. _

_Oh and yes my revenge against Doloris is going very well, if she comes back she will privately be in hell for the rest of her miserable life in St. Mungos with everyone thinking she went mad after all. _

_Anyway do review please!_


	4. Chapter 4: To Hogwarts

**Old Girl Lost: yes my Deloris does look much like Kathy Bates, but English, not pretty but not bad looking either when wearing the right things. **

**Ruth Hammond: Yes this Deloris ends up very human, unlike the hag the real Doloris was in canon.**

**Azphxbrd: you can bet the Dursleys have an eye opener, and they will treat Harry nicer. They will not start loving him or anything like that, more like treat him like the insurance he will keep them alive.**

**JWOHPfan: Thank you! Glad you like it!**

**Not-A-Spy: Hmm, Voldemort self-insert? Yea I could see how it goes "oh hell no, Avada Kedavra" one dead dark lord. :) **

Chapter Four: To Hogwarts:

Two weeks before school started, one interview with Dumbledore (who looks exactly as Jo described him) and a set book list for all seven years and I was ready to take up my place at Hogwarts. To this end I had gone over what to take for teaching for nine months. I Apparated to the gates of Hogwarts and took in the castle before me. Even with past memories the place was astounding. It is the tallest building in magical Britain easily. To save space on the actual footprint and for protection the ancients who built Hogwarts settled for going vertical, seven stories in fact. With each floor twelve feet high you get a building that is eighty four feet tall, that is not taking in the towers which take the building up to well over an hundred feet!

Now I knew from studying history that there were many a medieval building that did end up over two hundred feet tall, but they were not as well built as this castle and were no longer around. The stone was a warm gray and the tiles on the roof were new I noticed and a nice fresh dark red. In fact from reading _Hogwarts a History_ (something I made Harry read by the way) this castle was in a constant state of repair, each summer workers came to repair, paint trim and doors, refinish the floors, inspect the plumbing, repair furniture, curtains and carpets as needed. The castle was so well built that will all the care it could easily last at least another two thousand years. It was, I noted more Roman looking than English and the towers were capped with tall pointed roofs that reminded me of a witches hat to make Hogwarts a one of a kind castle never repeated in design anywhere else.

"So planning on staring at the castle all day or are you going to actually grace us with your presence?" Came a rich deep baritone male voice.

"I was talking in the beauty of Hogwarts, besides I am early by half an hour." I replied, "I never grow tired of the beauty of the castle."

"Pity children have to mar the beauty, enjoy this view, come time the children are here you will have a different view of Hogwarts."

I turned to look up into the face of Severus Snape, I mean it had to be him. First he does sound a lot like Alan Rickman, but he does not look like him at all. He is taller and much thinner though not skeletal, no not that. His face was all angles and his nose was large and hooked, he had thin lips and large black eyes and limp but full black hair that fell to his shoulders framing his face. He was clad very similar to Rickman in the movies, but his trousers were tucked into what looked like black riding boots that I knew were made from dragonskin. He had long black masters robes on and his arms were folded over his chest and he was leaning against one of the pillars of the gates. He was very young looking too, he did not look to be in his mid thirties and I understood at once why he would have to be a bit harsh with the students.

"Well I can handle them." I replied, "I am Deloris Umbridge."

"Severus Snape madam." He said extending his hand to shake mine, he really did have long slender fingers, "if you will be as kind to come with me?"

"Of course, I do have my own house elf, that will not be a problem?" I asked.

"Not at all, she will have to be keyed into the wards." Severus replied.

I followed him into the large entry hall, up the main marble stairs and up more flights of stairs, on a side note they do not move. That is all movie magic, no the stairs mostly stay where they were built but they do like to hide if they think they can get away with it. They are still there, all you have to do is step on them and they appear, takes many a student quite some time to get used to that. The staffroom was not on the ground floor I was surprised to learn, no it was right next to the infirmary which surprised me. We went in and I saw that all the professors were here. McGonagall was tall, thin and just as I expected from the books, and she did not like me, this was going to be awkward. Flitwick was short and clad in a three piece suit and tie with black hair and mustache. Sprout was my height and build clad in brown, then there was Hagrid, so very large and seated at the head of the table was Dumbledore.

"Hello Deloris, I am glad you made it." Dumbledore said.

"I am glad to be here, I so hope I can teach the children something."

"How about stuff them in sacks and throw them in the lake." Severus muttered

"Severus!" Minerva said sharply.

"Fine, I'll do the usual then." Severus said, I was beginning to like him, I mean cut him some slack, he did not look much older than a seventh year, he had to rule with fear to get them to behave, "see if I can make a seventh year still cry."

"I am glad to be here." I said, I had to tread carefully here, "I am not a teacher, and I know I have a lot to learn, if you could help me make sure to teach and protect the students I would be ever so grateful."

"I would be willing to help as the children do need a safe and caring environment to learn in without danger." Flitwick said.

I looked at the teachers here, it was clear I was not liked, at all. I had to tread carefully here and show these honored professors I was not here as a ministry employee for the ministry to interfere, I was here for the students and their welfare. I had spoke to Cornelius, got his promise I could teach what I liked and how I liked, he would not interfere with that. I was not a politician, but I was finding I had to act like one more and more and that did not make me happy. But to make a change in this, my world I had to do what it took to make things better. No I was not going to be like Dumbledore with his "for the great good" speech. No I wanted to help everyone who was redeemable and if needed kill those who tried to kill me. One does not sit down to tea with someone who is trying to kill you, but that is exactly what Dumbledore did.

"I am not here as a ministry worker." I said, "I am here because I really do care about the children."

"Even Harry Potter?" McGonagall said, "he is not a liar…"

"Minerva." Dumbledore said in a warning tone.

"No! I will not stay silent, Harry is not a liar, if he said Voldemort came back than he is back and if you think I will sit by and let a toad like hag like you harm him I will kill you myself!"

"Minerva!" Dumbledore said looking appalled.

"I would deserve it, who else believes Tom Riddle is back?" I said and at the look from everyone, "I questioned Harry Potter and found he was telling the truth, you need not fear I am here not harm him or anyone who speaks out that this dark lord is back."

"You believe he is back?" Severus said looking at me keenly.

"Yes, as I said I did the smart thing and saw Harry's memories." Here I did my best not to cry, the memories hurt still, "he nearly died, I saw what was done to him and I am here to see that no other student dies or gets hurt to the best of my ability."

"Pity you are not against us." Severus said, "I could have had fun seducing you."

"That is sweet Severus." I said sweetly, "but I am not a pedophile."

Now I know if Severus said what he said to me in the muggle world he could very well loose his job, as could I for my reply. However in the magical world where witches were far more powerful than wizards for the most part jokes like this were accepted even in the work place. Besides we were not near any student and the professors did have a different side when they were not in front of the students. Severus stared at me for a moment and then grinned, yes his teeth are a bit crooked but not too badly and they are only slightly yellow but very well cared for. He actually laughed, something the students did not get to see as he was reserved in front of them and for a good reason, he had a nice laugh too.

"Oh I think I like you." Severus said silkily, "too bad I will have to poison you."

"Well don't worry about living much longer after that Severus." I said smiling sweetly at him, "I have friends who can kindly fit you with concrete shoes and drop you in the English channel."

"Enough! Now that we have gotten to know each other, Deloris would you like a tour of the school?" Dumbledore said sternly.

"Of course, I would be delighted." I replied, "I can charm all the broom closets to keep the students out."

"If you could that would wonderful." Sprout said, "I do hate having to give detentions to young lovebirds."

"More like over sexed little fiends." Severus muttered, "thank Merlin for chastity wards."

Now one wonders how in the world an ancient school full of hormonal teenaged boys and girls why there were not more teen pregnancies in the magical world. One reason was the fact that though witches and wizards do joke about sex and the like they are surprisingly mostly virgins when they wed. I know, shocked me too but there is a reason for that, certain rituals cannot be done by those who are not virgins and champions have more power as virgins, the old "fairy tales" are right on that aspect. It gets better, when a virgin witch and wizard marry and fully bond in love they become very powerful. Its why magical couples marry mostly straight out of Hogwarts to gain that power. Children who enter Hogwarts are taught all about this but there are wards on Hogwarts that make sure, at least on Hogwarts grounds the little fiends cannot have sex, sure they can snog all they want but sex, no that cannot happen. Oh and woe a teacher that tried to have sex with a student or even do Legemancy on a child without the child's consent.

Still this did not mean Hogwarts was perfect, I mean there had been a student death here twice in the past fifty years! Take into account Harry facing Voldemort nearly every year and you have a problem. I could only hope that Dumbledore was loosing his mind and was not the manipulative bastard I believed him to be. I did have a good time with him as we went over the school, sure I had been here as a student but there were lots of things I had to learn to be a professor here. I now had a very good memory due to being an Occulumens and so I learned all the tricks the professors had to "pop up out of nowhere" and enjoyed my time with the aged headmaster, he could be such a charming old man. We came on a part of the school that had been closed off even when I was at Hogwarts with heavy charms to keep anyone out. I wondered what was here and Dumbledore with a wave of his wand took the wards down so we could go into the space. We came into ancient baths, large and in decent shape but clearly they had not been used in centuries. Now I knew why _Hogwarts a History_ spoke of baths in passing.

"Why are these not in use?" I asked, "I would have loved these as a student!"

"Ah yes, well just not something we use." Dumbledore said.

"Would have saved me having to swim in a cold lake." I replied, I had loved to swim at Hogwarts and had the perfect body for swimming, an insulating layer of fat, large feet for kicking and strength in my short frame. "When were these shut down?"

"Long before I came here, they are cursed, reason they are not used." Dumbledore said.

"Why not bring in a curse breaker to remove the curse?" I replied, "there has to be one who can deal with this curse."

"Many have tried but none have succeeded." Dumbledore replied.

"I could speak to the goblins, horrid people but they do know something about curse breaking." I replied.

"I had not thought of that." Dumbledore said, and really he was just as bias as the rest of our world, to the point of stupidity at times. Goblins were hated by us magical humans but they had access to all sorts of magic, "I think I could see about that."

"The school looks better than when I was going here." I replied.

I spent a bit more time with Dumbledore and then headed to my new rooms. As my house elf now had access to Hogwarts the rooms were done up to my tastes. The private rooms came furnished, a comfortable sofa and arm chair were in the living room and I was pleased to see the strip style kitchen had not only a stove with oven but a good sized magic run freezer/fridge. I had a table with chairs for eating and shelves where my books now resided. Sage curtains with pink tie backs were at the window that looked over the forest and a rug I had bought on a whim was on the dark wood floor. Over the fireplace I had a painted picture of my family, my dear husband, and my son in happier times. The bedroom had a large king sized bed and was soft and perfect. A door led to my office where a few touches to make it my own had been done, a foe glass over the fireplace, pink quills in their stand, a few books and the chair and desk scaled for me.

"So this fit your standards?" Severus said from the doorway, "so much pink."

"I like pink, and there is noting wrong with feminine touches to a witches office. You want me dead so you can have my job correct?"

"No not really, but you know," here he shifted on his feet, "well you know what I am."

"Yes, a spy." I replied, "I just hope you know what you are doing."

"So do I, oh you might want to set your grading quill." He said changing the subject quickly.

"Grading quill?" I asked.

"We have a hat that can read your mind to sort you, how do you think we fit the time in our lives to grade?" Severus asked, "put it behind your ear, it will set to your personality and do your grading."

"Thank you." I replied, "I am not your enemy, I never will be as long as you are not really on this dark lord's side."

"As if, now if you need anything, let myself or any of the heads of houses know, other wise I will be in my potions lab plotting your death."

"Two words Severus, concrete shoes." I replied.

He gave a sad grin and was gone, it seemed he was a man of many faces. Harry had only ever seen the very reserved or very angry face of Severus but he had far more emotions than that. It was clear from the first book he had a dark sarcastic sense of humor that students rarely find amusing but teachers do, and I do as well. But there was a sadness about him as well and I thought I knew why. I did as he said and put the quill behind my ear, I had been dreading the grading part of my job and this had solved all my problems with that. I was as ready as I could be to teach and hoped that I would not mess things up.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Yes I know there will be many who state "but Snape was an emotionless bastard", not true. Sure he was reserved (most of the time) around the students. However as the books are told from Harry's point of view I am sure there was another side to him, in fact it does come out in the books a bit. He had a dark sarcastic humor and I am sure once away from the students he would show his less refined side. Yes he was inappropriate at the staff meeting and yes in the muggle world that is not allowed but hey, the magical world follows their own rules as it is. He his partly joking, as is Deloris._

_As for Deloris, well she knows she has to build bridges. This why she is doing her level best to show she is not a threat. What a political game she has to play too, she can't as stated before just waltz in and make drastic changes all at once, it would get her killed or worse. As for the grading quill, correct me if I am wrong but I never did see a teacher actually grading anything! Sure the students got their work back graded but if there is a hat that can sort you, portraits that can talk why not a grading quill to take on that rather long and tedious part of teaching? Saves the teachers sanity or, as with most schools I went to hiring a teacher's aid._

_Anyway, do review please!_


	5. Chapter 5: The Hogwarts Express

_I wanted to add a note before I go on, there will be no romance for my self-insert here at all! She is a widow (the madam Umbridge gives it away she was married at one time) and has no desire to have a relationship with anyone. She might joke about it but she never would act on it, not even with Severus (who I find attractive by the way). So with that note on with the story!_

Chapter Five: The Hogwarts Express:

I was pleasantly surprised the day before school was to start I was invited to patrol the Hogwarts Express. I had just finished reading a letter from Harry, he was enjoying his stay at what had been his godfather's home, he had lent out his two house elves (he had taken my advice and took Dobby and Winky into his family, bonding them as family not slaves) to clean up the place under the ancient house elf there. Now he could not tell me where he was but he could tell me what he was doing, Dobby and Winky had won over Mrs. Weasley it seemed and Kreacher was a decent elf who seemed happy and willing to work hard. Harry stated that Mrs. Weasley had been surprised that the house elf had gone from surely and rude to cheerful and helpful over night. I could only hope Sirius had talked to the old elf about the locket and was able to do something about it. Harry sounded happy and I was happy for him.

The Hogwarts express was needed, it seemed there was an ancient road created in Roman times by the warrior queen Boudicca or as commonly called Boadicea of the Iceni tribe. She had her witches and wizards create the road and helped move the magical items in ancient Britain at the same time she fought the Romans. This move meant the Romans could never take Scotland as the witches and wizards of the British isles had retreated to what would be come Scotland. Hadrian had built the wall to keep them out of Roman territory as he could not win against them and try as he might he could never conquer the road that went to the wilds of Scotland. As the road was well protected it was used to bring the students to Hogwarts in perfect safety. However there was a problem with this, one could enter the road in London and exit in Hogsmeade where the ancient knowledge was stored but one could not enter the road from any other point. Sure witches and wizards could see what was on the road but could not join it accept at the two points.

Before the train it took three days to get to Hogwarts on the road even with the carriages pulled by the theserals, but it was safe and secure and the children were safe on it. When the train came tracks were laid and the Hogwarts express train was created. The train did leave from platform 9 ¾, but not from Kings cross, no it they left at Charring Cross station right next to Charring Cross road and Diagon Alley. One went through the portal and came on the scarlet steam engine and so onto Hogwarts. I found the teachers carriage right behind the steam engine, here I knew Remus Lupin was desperate to see Harry. I had cast him in a bad light reading the books but now living as Deloris Umbridge I saw that he had been forbidden to contact Harry in any form magical or muggle, Harry had to seek him out each and every time. I felt sorry for Remus, to be treated as such even if he was a monster once a month. He might be charming and good in human form but he is a raving man eating monster once a month. I was here to patrol the train and was happy that Pomona had come along, I got along very well with her as we had gone to school together though she was five years older than me.

"I do hope we do not have any issues with the students" Pomona said as the train ride started.

"I asked Cornelius for a few Aurors, ones that could blend in with the students." I said knowing Tonks was here, "just in case, Harry, I mean Mr. Potter, well he did create quite a stir with his report to that Skeeter woman about what really happened to Cedric Diggory."

"He grows on you." Pomona said and at a look from me, "Harry, he is such a good young man, a teen to be sure but there is so much good in him, it would be a tragedy for him to fall."

"I agree, which is why, you can keep a secret?" I asked.

"Mums the word." Pomona replied.

"I did more than view his memories, I am teaching him Occulumency and more than that there is a connection to that foul monster that I blocked for him as well" I replied, "something that Dumbledore never thought to do as he does not know about witches very well."

"No, his loss really." Pomona replied, "we are the smarter stronger sex, why he did not at least wed for the power I will never know."

We did our rounds, I had to confiscate some fanged Frisbees that had been charmed not only to bite but bark as well from two boys I recognized at once. They were identical from flaming red hair, wide blue eyes, uniforms (seems most of the school wears their muggle style uniforms to Hogwarts minus the black outer robe) and nearly the last freckle. But I could see a small scar on one twins ear and the other had only one freckle over his left eyebrow. They were not happy to loose their Frisbees but I sweetly told them they were dangerous and they did not wish to hurt anyone did they? I walked on from the Weasley twins and saw a bit of a commotion outside one compartment. I saw the white blond head of a tall pale boy with clear gray eyes facing down a group in a compartment, with him where two stocky tall boys with brown hair and eyes offering backup.

"What seems to be the problem?" I asked sweetly walking up, hating I was dwarfed by the boys, the blond clearly being Draco Malfoy and the others Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, "not fighting I hope?"

"No, but you have to punish Potter for his lies!" Draco said holding a second reprinting of the _Quibbler _article up, "what he said about my father I will not stand for!"

"He spoke the truth ferret!" Came a girl's voice.

I stepped into the compartment wand drawn and saw four people there. One was Harry, and he looked much better with contacts as his green eyes stood out more. The other boy was stocky and a bit chubby with light brown hair and brown eyes. The first girl in here was Luna Lovegood, her dirty blond hair was in need of care and her uniform was rumbled but she looked less dreamy than I would have thought and was glaring at Draco Malfoy. The other Ginny Weasley and she looked like I expected at that age, long flaming red hair, bright brown eyes and freckles across her nose. She had her wand out as did everyone in this compartment. The tension could be felt in the air and I had to show my authority now before things got bad.

"What about the article?" I asked.

"You read it professor?" Draco asked turning pink with anger.

"Yes I read it." I replied.

"Then make him take it back!" Draco snapped knowing my position in the ministry.

"Mr. Malfoy as much as I would like to I cannot." I replied, "your father has to clear his name, all he has to do is come down to the ministry and this whole horrible misunderstanding will be taken care of."

"But Potter here…"

"I can't do anything, there is no proof that this dark lord is back and there is no proof he is not." I replied, "now if all parties concerned were to come in we could clear this up."

"No, I got the truth out that is all you will get from me." Harry said playing his part very well, "sorry professor but I do not trust Fudge, what if he chucks me into Azkaban for life like what was done to my godfather, he was innocent and he never got to prove that!"

"We are done here." I said evenly, "do I make myself clear? If I hear either of you speak of this at Hogwarts to each other you will be in serious trouble."

"Yes professor Umbridge." Both said.

I walked off watching Draco walk away from Harry, he knew better than to cross me, if he did I would show him who was in charge. The rest of the train ride was uneventful, I had to break up three snogging sessions, drag a first year off the back of the train and confiscate a singing sword. We came to Hogwarts late in the day and I took the teacher's carriage up to the school and was at my place at the head table to wait for the students to come in, I sat right next to Severus. He smirked at me evilly and I smiled sweetly back, we were becoming friends of a sort, I loved his dark humor and he was very smart. He did write for a Potions Journal and was working on research for several new potions and improvements on others. I smiled as the first years came in, Severus was in "evil git of the dungeons" mode as he glared at the students.

"Ah fresh new blood." He said softly to me.

"It will be fun to teach them." I said my smile still on my face.

"If I have to give them calming draughts because of you two I will make you sorry!" Poppy hissed to us.

For some reason I had become rather popular for a defense teacher. I was not just tolerated but liked by a few of the staff. Than again I humbled myself and went to them to learn what worked at teaching, and I got to know them as people. I wanted to prove so badly that they could trust me I was willing to do just about anything to prove I was not just a ministry employee here to force the children to the ministry line. No I think what had got them to open up to me was the fact that I actually had dared dress down the headmaster, telling him he had endangered students and that the students were not well trained and I intended to see what they lacked and to fix that problem. I did not blame the death of Cedric on him, it was not his fault, Junior had him well fooled as I had learned Alastor Moody had been the boy's godfather!

I listened to the sorting song and stood smiling sweetly when Dumbledore introduced me smiling at the students. I took a seat, there was no need for a speech, I would start teaching the next day and they would learn I was no pushover and that I intended to teach, really teach these children what they needed to survive. I was taking my job seriously, as could have the real Umbridge. What she had done had been criminal but then the real woman had been vile and I was not going to allow what she had done to happen here. No I was going to teach these children to defend themselves, they might hate me for it at first but in the end I was going to do what I could to see that they survived. I had a great appetite from all the walking I did each day, there are no elevators in Hogwarts, you want to get to an upper floor you take stairs. As stated before Hogwarts is seven stories tall not taking in the towers or the four dungeon levels that go with her. I was getting in good shape and it was no wonder I was able to eat so well, I had lost a tiny bit of weight too. Of course no-one of the staff of Hogwarts (accept for Hagrid but that was a given) could eat like Severus. He ate with very good manners but quickly and always with an eye on the great hall and he had four large servings of dinner and three of dessert.

"Pass me the chocolate pudding." Severus asked, well add one more dessert.

"I always thought you did not eat well, and that was why you were so very thin." I told him handing over the pudding, "but I stand corrected."

"My metabolism makes it so I can eat whatever I want, plus all the exercise I get." Severus replied, "I get cranky if I am not well fed."

"No you get cranky call the time." McGonagall said, "you are rather harsh on the students."

"I teach potions Minerva, all the students have to do is follow the directions I put step by step on the board, why I still have potions accidents I will never know!" Severus shot back, "stupid brats do it on purpose! I do not expect them to be potions masters, but I do expect them to be able to at least read!" Severus shot back.

"Well you could feed them to the giant squid." Flitwick said, "on second thought no, that would give it indigestion."

Severus grunted, here among the students he dared not laugh, no he was being very reserved and rightly so. Finally the feast was over and the little children headed to bed, the heads of houses went to talk with their students and I went to go over what I would teach the next day. I was both looking forward to it and very, very nervous at the same time.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So I wanted to come up with a plausible reason for why there is a need for the Hogwarts express and hope it is good enough. Deloris is playing a dangerous game to be sure but she has no choice really. Not much more to say as this was a transitional chapter really._

_Anyway do review please!_


	6. Chapter 6: A Learning Curve

_Snakefang: Not a bad idea, might use that, though Harry would have to convince her to do that of course! :)_

_Azphxbrd: Yes Deloris has a hard road to go, first she has to keep Fudge happy and then show the professors of Hogwarts she really is on the students side and on theirs as well._

_Tahari: Yes Deloris as a self-insert is very interesting, and the best revenge I could get on the horrid woman. To end up as her and fully transform her to someone good is the best revenge on the evil woman. It would make her very unhappy to do anything good and who says violence is the only way to get revenge? _

_Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! Now on with the story!_

Chapter Six: A Learning Curve:

I settled into teaching and found I had a knack for it and really did enjoy it. Of course telling first years that they would be required to cast spells got them to really pay attention, they itched to use their wands and I was going to take advantage of that fact. Their magical cores were barely stable enough for them to cast many spells but those they could I made sure they could learn. I was tough and graded both homework and practical work in class tough, and I was brutal (at least in the opinion of the students) in my detentions. One has to be creative in detentions and I was nothing but, I made the students write lines, not with a blood quill, no that is illegal and cruel, no I had a far more better and more visible way to get the children's attention, and my first detention started with Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy. They came to my office wondering what was going to happen to them after they had traded some rather horrible insults about each other's mothers and I had caught them at it.

"Good evening boys." I said smiling, "tonight I want three hundred lines of 'If I can't say something nice I will not spout of my mouth and insult others but keep said mouth shut'. I don't expect you to be friends, I don't expect you to get along, but you will act like young gentlemen and your insulting each others mothers was a line you had no right to cross, I am ashamed of both of you!"

"Yes professor Umbridge." Both said, Draco looked a bit pale.

"Good, now here is your paper you will use." I put a silver sheet before Ron and a gold before Draco, "and here are your quills, self inking and all ready to go."

"Professor why is mine silver?" Ron asked.

"Do you wish me to add lines?" I asked sweetly.

"No professor."

The looks on their faces was priceless as they began to write, Draco had red ink on nice gold paper and Ron green ink on silver paper. Yes it was mean making them write their lines in their rival house colors but they had to think. I had hated the rivalry in the books between the two and Draco was redeemable, the rest of his family not so much. He only joined Voldemort to save his family, there was no other reason. Sure he was a bigot but he had been raised that way, there was still hope for him, if he would swallow his pride that is. I sat at my desk and took to reading Steven Hawkings _A Brief History of Time_, hey I had the time so why not? It's not as if I had to grade the mounds of homework I set. I would put the grading quill to my head that night to get a feel to my students, another advantage of the quill. Finally the boys were finished and I let them go back to their common rooms.

A few days later guess who I had in detention? I ended up with Fred and George Weasley. They had thought it funny to put a charm in my classroom that made a croaking sound each time I spoke. They had not been aware I had put my own charms up to catch any pranks and once I removed it I made them stay behind to speak to them. They are very, very smart, in fact they got eight OWLs each not the three each Jo put in canon. In fact they had taken all but their potions, Arithmancy and defense NEWTs and were really here this year for their store, that and Severus did not allow early NEWTs in potions. Even if one was really talented, no those few students who were really talented would gain their NEWT in potions with a journeyman honors attached, and I had a feeling these two jokesters would be two of the few to gain that. I made them do lines, silver paper and green in, four hundred lines of "_I will respect my professors and will not prank them_." I had a real soft spot for these two, however they were still teens and did not always think when they did their pranks. Though they did try to always make them funny and not harmful, they could not get away with pranking professors. Finally both boys were done and came up to hand in their papers, I rose and looked up at to identical faces with sad blue eyes.

"Had it occurred I mind find that hurtful?" I said calmly and at the shocked look on their faces went on, "I am an ugly woman, I know that, I don't need you to remind me of what I look like!"

"Professor we were not trying to hurt you!" Fred said.

"No we were trying to cheer you up honest!" George added.

"Oh really?" I said, great they were about to cry, served them right this time, "it did not, I am not amused, you are brilliant students, I do like jokes but you have to always think before you prank. However if you ever do a prank on me again I will owl your mother." I said, "understood?"

"Yes professor." Both said at once.

"Please professor can we make it up to you?" Fred asked.

"Yes, what can we do to make it up to you?" George added.

"You are both good at Occulumency," I said as fact not question, it is a little known fact that magical twins are natural Occulumens, more so identical twins, "I know this dark lord is back and I want you to look out for Harry, can you do that?"

"Yes professor, he is like a brother to us." Fred said grinning.

"We will help him stay safe as best we can." George replied.

"Good, now rumor has it you wish to start a joke shop?" I asked, hey if things turned out like in canon I could make some money off being an investor.

"Yes, why?" Fred asked.

"Do you wish to buy some of our products?" George asked.

"I want to fund your defense products." I said and their eyes went wide, "I know you can make more than prank products correct? You show me what you have and I promise if I like it I will fund your defensive products."

Both boys grinned identical grins and I had real allies in the two boys. They were really good boys, and had always been two of my favorites in the series. When Fred was killed it felt as if my heart had been stomped on and I was going to do what I could to keep that from happening. I knew that last year both Harry and Hogwarts dogged a major bullet, if Harry had been killed the death eaters would have used the portkey to get past the formidable wards Hogwarts had up. There was no way anyone could get past the gates or through the forest without clearance. Add to this a portkey could not be made but any but a professor of Hogwarts, most notably only the heads of houses and the headmaster and the defense instructor (as in past times when there was a competent instructor they could make them as well), it was mostly for emergency procedures. The fake Moody had taken advantage of that fact and had created his very own modern day Trojan horse as it where, only Harry foiled his plans.

So much Harry had gone through was more than luck for him to survive, it was providence. He was alive and as he was marked by prophecy he was a champion no matter if he was trained or not. Magic had accepted the challenge and he had been able to do things most children his age could not do. Dumbledore really was not setting him up, I had spoke to Severus who stated that Dumbledore had better things to do that that. Harry really had a hand as it where in what he did, but I knew that in the end that would not be enough. No matter if he defeated traps in his first year he really should not have been able to defeat a Basilisk in his second year, that was a mark of a true champion, able to call on things for help in his darkest hour, classic really and almost like a Fairy Tale. Hmm, that does remind me many muggle fairy tales are true and did happen and heroes did seem to have lots of help even with the odds stacked against them.

Now I really wanted to do more than help Harry, in my old life I had love my world, the muggle world. However Deloris had not, and that was why the plan I had to introduce the magical teens to muggle things would have hit a snag had I not had the knowledge I had now. When I had convinced Cornelius to let me teach at Hogwarts I had learned a bit about each student, mostly those in Harry's year. One, a Justin Finch-Fletchley was part of the peerage and was in my old house Hufflepuff. I took a chance, a rather daring one and sent him a book I had my house elf find for me called _Magic and Electrical Mayhem, How the Two Work Together_. It was a book from America that I had in the past tried to ban. Now it was in the hands of a muggleborn, and it was something I would not regret giving him at all, best of all it could not be traced back to me, I did not wish to end up in Azkaban or St. Mungos after all, I could not publically deviate from who Deloris was after all. It was one of the few arguments I had with Harry, he did defend the muggles and I had to refuse to listen, stating "we can agree to disagree Harry" and leave it at that. However when the "Movie Club of Hogwarts" was formed I went to watch the movies, Harry had everything to do with that.

"Professor you must come." Harry had said after class to me, "please, just one movie, one and if you hate it I will never ask again."

"One movie?" I asked.

"Yea, one of the best!" Harry said grinning, "It's called _Star Wars_!"

"Ah, stars at war?" I was having a hard time keeping my features neutral, I loved _Star Wars_ and it made since Harry would, the movies spoke to many generations after all, "how interesting."

"It's hard to explain, but you must come!" He begged me, "please, this is one thing muggles do really, really well and Justin he got a projector and stuff to work and was allowed one of the un-used lecture halls! Please come, please!"

"Very well, I will see this nonsense with you." I replied.

I went and saw _Star Wars_ and was not the only teacher, McGonagall sat by me and was surprised I was here. Then again I was the ministry stooge at Hogwarts, one that really wanted to keep the students safe but a ministry stooge nonetheless. I did not care that it got around the school I loved _Star Wars_, more movies were allowed, all good clean fun. Mostly musicals as the students seemed to love musicals, from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers to the _Wizard of Oz_, _Singing in the Rain_, _My Fair Lady_, _Gig_i, _South Pacific_ oh and of course _Mary Poppins_. To be sure the teens like Star Wars and other action movies but musicals seemed to be dear to their hearts the most. I had started a revolution of sorts and could see purebloods asking muggleborn students questions about the muggle world and muggleborn students answering and asking about the magical world, all the customs and such. Maybe things could change here and all I had to do was stay firmly in the background and give a nudge here and there to get things to change.

One part of my job I did not like was the examining of all the teachers. It had to be done as I had to send a report to Cornelius but I was very fair. I found Sybil Trelawney to be a good teacher, the subject was rubbish but she had a passion for the art even if it was a bit spotty. All I could do was truthfully state she was good at what she did and mark her down only for using too much incense, really there was way too much in that room and it made me rather ill. The other teachers I had high praise for, Filius, dear Filius how I liked him as he was a sweet man and really had a knack for his teaching. I wrote an essay on how bad Binns was and actually demanded him removed at once, I was surprised when that happened and it was an Andromeda Tonks who came to fill in. I was very popular for that and received little gifts anonymously from students. I sat in Minerva's class and loved her teaching style, you could tell she loved to teach. After the class she came up looking as prim as she could.

"So how did I do?" She asked.

"Practically perfect in every way." I said absentmindedly.

"You are watching far too many movies." Minerva said dryly, "what do you think of muggles now?"

"They know how to entertain, if they would stick to that instead of war I would be happy with that." I replied.

"We are at war now too."

"I know, I wish I had you as my transfiguration professor, I would have done far better." I said meaning it.

"Thank you," Minerva said warmly, "now I take it you have Severus then Hagrid?"

"Yes, wish me luck."

"How about a reserved bed in the hospital wing?" Minerva said a small smile at her lips.

"Don't worry I will not harm the boy that badly." I replied.

I went to Severus's class and found it was first years and he was not in a good mood. Now Severus has a very dark humor, and when he gets really annoyed he gets really sarcastic. Unfortunately students, (the younger the worse this problem) did not understand his humor, well in fact most of my friends in my former life compared Snape to me, stating we both were so very mean as I would laugh at much of the stuff he said in the books. I love sarcasm as did Severus and really how else was he to vent his frustrations? Yell at the students and throw things at them? In fact Hogwarts is known the world over for nice potions master instructors (yes shocking isn't it) and Severus is actually nice compared to most. Though he is harder on those getting into the NEWT program, no-one who does gets out of a "Snape classic NEWT training" with anything lower than an O. True this meant many students had to study independently to get their NEWTs in potions (I was surprised one could do that) but Severus did not want any but the best in his NEWT program, so he could state he only taught the best. At the end of class he had taken a total of ten points, yes you read that right, Severus is very lenient with the first years, he gets stricter and harsher the older the student.

"So how did I do?" He asked.

"Very well, I thought that you threw things from the way the students talk about you." I replied, "you are very reserved."

"I work out, boxing after classes, I refuse to loose control, let other potions instructors do that, I never will, I expect my students to do the best, we are at Hogwarts after all, the best magical school in the world." Severus replied, "so I do not have to kill you?"

"No, good marks." I replied.

"Pity, I was looking forward to poisoning your tea." He shot back.

I smiled and left, we often spoke like this, and I really did like Severus, his humor was right up their with mine. Many fan-fictions portray him as overly petty and I never saw that in the books. Sure he could be bias to his house but who was it that put Harry Potter on the Gryffindor team and bought him a broom? Severus is no more bias than any other head of house. I went out and was ready to grade the last professor of the lot, Hagrid. Now he was back early from his _giant hunting_ as I put it for a very simple reason, sent a letter that told him he had to get a wand and be trained in using it before school started or he would not be allowed to teach. So he had come back and was here ready to teach, he still was not sure of me but led the class into the forest to a clearing. I knew he would teach about the theserals today.

"So today I am going to teach you about theserals, now how many of you can see them?" Hagrid asked, only Harry raised his hand. "Right, only those who have seen death and understand it can see them."

"Is there a way for the rest of us to?" I asked.

"Ah yes, here, my wand is around here somewhere." Hagrid said, he fumbled through a pocket or two, found his wand and cast a spell, "there give it a moment, don't be afraid of them, they are gentle and smart too."

The theserals came to view, flickering in and out of view like a bad television with horrible reception. They were large and very thin with deep chests and large leathery wings. Their short black hair hung over leathery skin and their eyes were milk white, the only other color on them but black. I watched as the students got acquainted with the gentle creatures and did give Hagrid good marks, with reminders that he remember he now has a wand. I sent my reports in, after showing them to each teacher and went back to the "plan" Cornelius and I put together, to get Dumbledore out of full influence over the students. He might believe that Voldemort was back but I did not see him doing much to stop him, Cornelius and Amelia were doing far, far more now.

Now as for Sirius, I wondered what he was doing, I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. There were articles in the _Daily Prophet_ that stated their were attacks and the like on dark creature colonies and the _Quibbler_ did state that a giant colony had sworn allegiance to the Black family but most things were very quiet that first month I was there. That is until Grayback ended up at Azkaban in the high security ward with a ministry portkey on the full moon. The chaos that resulted created five dead Dementors (I was not aware a werewolf could kill one of those things or that they could die) and the Dementors closing ranks and in the confusion kissing all the death eaters still in Azkaban. Grayback was killed by several hit wizards and no-one missed the convicted death eaters. I was hoping for a more peaceful year after this, but that was not to be, for a week later Peter Pettigrew was found in the ministry atrium very much alive, he was given Vertaserum and Sirius Black was officially a free man.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Oh yes, Deloris here has to be tough, and she is, but she is fair too. As I really saw no use for Binns "sacking" him was the best thing I could think of doing. Oh and yes Sirius Black is officially free and clear, and he will play a part in the story to be sure._

_Anyway do review please!_


	7. Chapter 7: A Dueling Club

_Bookaddict19: Yes self inserts are tricky, especially when one ends up as a character one hates. Oh yes I hate Doloris Umbridge and thought of this as a perfect revenge, take over her body and life and do everything she would not do. It's therapeutic to get through anger at a character I hate this way._

_Azphxbrd: Yes lots I had to get through here, I thought my detentions were brilliant. If I did teach and had to give detention this is exactly how I would do it, find colors the kid hates and make 'em do lines that way. Glad you liked what I did with Greyback, could not have happened to worse werewolf after all._

Chapter Seven: A Dueling Club:

I was not fully happy Sirius was exonerated, I mean when he was "off the radar" he was safer but now he stood a chance of getting killed. True I had a love hate relationship of sorts about him but I did not want him dead. I was deep in thought walking out of the great hall after breakfast when the doors to the school opened and Bill Weasley came in. Oh my he was gorgeous, really a perfect specimen of a man, he was as tall and lean as Severus but that was were the similarities ended. His beautiful red hair, so full and curly, it had more than just fire red in it, he had dark red and copper all woven together in his long curly hair that he had tied back in a low ponytail. His face was lightly tanned with a few freckles on his nose and he had his father's blue eyes. He was clad in muggle dark blue jeans tucked into heavy buckled brown dragonskin boots. He had on a dragonskin short brown coat with lots of brass buttons under which I saw he had a green tee shirt with the Apple computer logo with a maroon thermal shirt. Over all he had on a long brown riding coat and satchel.

"Hello, I am Bill Weasley, here to help solve your curse problem?" Bill said politely.

"I'll say you are." A girl standing near him said, Ginny who had come out of the great hall just rolled her eyes.

"Yes of course, the headmaster is away but professor McGonagall can take you there." I replied.

"Thank you Deloris, you have changed a bit William." Minerva said looking him over, "well I am sure you will be the best, I did teach you after all."

"Most things, the goblins are harsh taskmasters but they are brilliant, lets see these baths then please professor McGonagall."

"You can call me Minerva William, you are after all a colleague, Deloris would you like to come?"

"I have classes to prepare, so I will have to come by later." I said, "thank you though Minerva."

I saw Fred and George looked a bit pale and Ron was puffed up a bit, so there was some favoritism there, on and Ginny was glaring at the giggling girls, as if to protect her brother! Than again she is the seventh child, and there are seven generations of Weasleys of all boys. She is a powerhouse and properly trained she will do great things. I went to teach and did not really have much to do with Bill as he did not need to be disturbed in his hard work. Fred and George seemed to be on planning something and I feared for them, not that I would say anything, no let them get in trouble. A week after Bill came was the first Defense Club meeting. The students were happy to have this chance to have fun and learn, and I allowed it, after all the children did need to learn to defend themselves. It was that very day that Fred and George earned the wrath of Bill and came to breakfast out of uniform looking very put out, in fact they were clad and looked just like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

I said nothing as the great hall laughed at their misfortune, they really should not have gone against their brother as I was sure they had. I saw Remus Lupin try to hide his smile and fail, yes Remus was here, no he was not teaching, there were two reasons for this. One he had been banned from being around Harry and that was cruel and two (or so I said as part of being Deloris) I could keep a close watch on him. I even made it known when he came that part of his being allowed access to Harry was that Severus was his alpha no questions asked. Severus had excused himself after that and taken Remus with him with a sinister smile, when he came back with Remus he had a perfectly submissive werewolf. Everyone here knew that Remus belonged to Severus (this would not blow his cover with Voldemort) and that the werewolf would be killed if he ever went without his wolfsbane. I heard a shout just before the first meeting of the club and ran into the entry hall. I saw Sirius Black, clad in jeans, heavy black buckled boots, and black motorcycle jacket hugging a very over-joyed Harry Potter.

"Mr. Black what do you think you are doing here?" I began to ask.

"Ah just what we need for the club." Severus said walking up with a sinister smile on his face, "I think it would be great to show the students a real duel?"

"Sure, I would love to show them how it's really done." Sirius said grinning, "Harry you want me to take old Snape down here?"

"I would like to see a duel, a real one this time, last time was rather one sided as the only one who knew anything about a wand was professor Snape." Harry replied.

"Flattery will not gain you points Potter." Severus said coldly.

"I know sir, but I do speak the truth, would be fun to see you in a real duel sir, just don't kill my godfather."

"Harry I can take him any day, anywhere, any time." Sirius said grinning at Harry and messing up his already messy hair, "you will see!"

I walked into the great hall where on the dais where the staff table normally sat the stage was set for dueling. Flitwick set up two coat racks, one for Severus on one side of the dais, one on the other. Seems he was well acquainted with the hatred these two had for each other. Most of it was Sirius's fault, when Severus had been in school it was James and Sirius who went against him the most and Severus who pounded them for it nearly all the time. He was not the bullied little boy he showed in the last book at all, no he took his worst memories and left out all the times he won against James, Sirius and Pettigrew. The fights and so-called pranks nearly always took place where a teacher could not find them, all but a few instances. I learned that Sirius was put on probation for his so called prank but never given the counseling I felt he really needed. Teens do stupid things but trying to murder someone in fun is not something even a stupid but normal teen normally does. Sirius hung up his jacket revealing a crimson tee shirt with a black dog on it and purple thermal shirt under it. Severus hung up his robes and Filius officiated the duel.

"Now this duel is to be friendly!" He said, "nothing to kill, permanently maim, disfigure or dark arts, nothing that can kill or humiliate or transfiguring into any Animagmus forms or animal parts, other than that have fun! There will be three rounds or winner by knockout."

"I don't, I don't think my godfather stands a chance." Harry said to Ron standing by him, "I just don't."

"Professor Snape is far better than lord Black." Draco said, "glad you can see that scarhead."

"Shut it ferret." Harry shot back.

"Enough!" I said firmly, "next person who speaks out of you lot gets a detention with me. You will be required to wear pink."

I did not want them to call my bluff but they were far too smart and were very quiet after that. The duel began and it was clear these two wizards were a cut above the rest. When cast spells aside from the transfiguration kind are mostly light until they hit a target, than they show their true form. However as very few were hitting either wizard the spells just bounced off the shield around them and fizzed out. Severus was in his element here, and I knew he would be, he did duel three very talented souls in the last book after all. Sirius was good too and he showed he could fight very well. However it was not enough, in the end Severus started to get in hits and after fifteen minutes it was all over with Sirius out cold on the floor.

"Is he dead?" A small first year asked timidly.

"Mostly dead." Justin said. "Not all dead."

"There is a difference?" The same first year said not realizing he was falling for movie quotes from _A Princess Bride_.

"Yes, mostly dead we can bring him back, all dead no." Justin said doing his best not to laugh, "man I love that movie!"

"Owe, what happened?" Sirius said walking up groaning in pain.

"I bested you yet again Black, you no longer have three others to attack me." Severus said getting the students to gasp at this, "oh yes, and even with four on one I won nearly all the time."

"Good." Harry said, he knew all about his father in school, he knew his father was a bully and cruel and would have remained that way if not for his mother straightening him out. "I love you Sirius I really do but it is terribly bad form to attack four on one as you did. Serves you right if you are in pain."

"Spoken like your mother." Sirius said still laying flat on the floor, "I am still far better looking than Severus though."

"Yea, as if that is all a gal wants." Ginny said loud enough for him to hear.

"Well now that this charming duel is over shall we get to what the club is all about?" Filius asked, he had decided to run the club as he was dueling champion of the world ten years running. "Let's start with dueling dummies!"

Sirius was taken out of the room on a stretcher and Severus was looking at Harry in a new light. It was clear that Harry was a lot like his mother, but even more noble and good, he really did champion the weak now and refused to allow any bullying around him. Though he was a teen boy he was turning into a fine young man. The club was a way to help the children while a the same time look as if I was removing influence from Dumbledore, even Voldemort could not find fault in what I was doing, at least I hoped. Though all years could attend the dueling club they would still be segregated by year up to fifth year. Reason for this is the magical core of a child is mostly stable at eleven for them to start learning magic, but the first couple years require a slower start, more theory than anything and a few spells.

Though I did like Severus I did not fully like how he treated Harry, sure Harry had cheeked him in potions, stunned him in the shrieking shack but he had been trying to change but Severus could not see past that. He really needed help, mental help as did much of his generation. I wanted to ask him what caused him to become a death eater, why would the son of a muggle man and an outcast witch even think of joining the dark lord? I had gone to Pettigrew's trail, learned he had willingly joined the dark lord, that he had only been with the marauders as they were the most powerful on the block at that time, out of school he went straight to the dark lord. He is not redeemable in any way, and would betray even the dark lord if given the chance. I did make sure he never made it to Azkaban, a pair of concrete shoes, the English Channel and one less rat in the world. Surprised? Well I was not going to let him harm Harry ever again, no-one messed with my boy and got away with it. Yes I was seeing Harry Potter as more my child and like any mother no-one messed with my child and got away with it.

Another week past and I was surprised when a very pretty girl with long golden blond hair, blue eyes, tall and stunningly pretty came to help Bill with the cursed baths. She was clad stylishly but conservatively in a pretty navy suit and powder blue shirt. I learned this was Fleur Delacour and call me petty (for I was) but I disliked her for being so pretty and stupid, sure she loved Bill and stayed with him even after he was mauled but she was all beauty but no brains. Time would prove me wrong on that but for the time being I could only see a pretty brainless girl and wondered just what she was doing here at Hogwarts with Bill.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So there is more of a transition chapter, Severus gets to beat Sirius, Bill comes to Hogwarts and Harry has a "momma bear" in his corner. Now Fleur was underused in the series, I mean she worked at Gringotts to "improve her English"? Sure and I have some underwater property to sell you, no I am sure she was smart, why would Bill marry anyone but a smart witch? Sure she was Veela but she would not tolerate a man who did not want her for her not just her beauty._

_Anyway do review please!_


	8. Chapter 8: Quidditch Begins

Chapter Eight: Quidditch Begins:

I woke up one morning and could not believe I had been Deloris Umbridge for two weeks under four months. I had changed a lot of things without drawing suspicion to myself, I mean who could blame me changing after seeing Voldemort rise from the dead? I wanted to see Harry not only live but thrive, not like Dumbledore who just wanted him to die in the end. I had met with Harry each week, checked his mind and saw he was very advanced with his Occulumency, I wondered if I could have Severus test his shields but was not sure how loyal to Dumbledore he really was. I liked him but he had a very good reason to stay loyal to Dumbledore, the old man probably was the only thing keeping him from Azkaban.

I had been watching out for Luna but not so that anyone would notice. I had sent to her a package (anonymously of course) that would protect her things. Yet I noticed things, though her dorm mates had nothing to do with her I was surprised when Cho Chang and Padma Patil had taken her under their wings as it where. I could see them sit with her and talk with her at the Ravenclaw table and she had started to look better too. Her hair looked cared for and she nearly always had a pretty blue ribbon in it. While the uniform of Hogwarts was rather limited in fashion choices the girls at least could wear colored tights in their house colors. Luna however proudly wore a bronze and blue plaid number and these actually did look good on the girl, and she was less dreamy and more focused as the weeks went on and both Cho and Padma became her good friends. It had to be because her father printed the truth and I dearly hoped that she had real friends now that would continue to take care of her.

Quidditch fever had also come to Hogwarts and the teams were practicing all the time now it seemed. Though there were other sports, (all informal of course) football and cricket they were not popular like Quidditch. When the students were not studying or in class they were talking Quidditch, their teams, who would win the first game this year and the like. The first game was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin and I was looking forward to it, I so wanted to see how well Harry played. I had refused to put bets on anyone, after all I had a reputation to uphold and came to the game ready for some fun. The uniforms are very similar to what the movies show, accept they do wear helmets, which I was glad to see. It was easy to see the teams as they were brightly clad and I was looking forward to see how Harry flew.

Both teams were talented, very much so, there were no bad flyers on either team. It was clear that Draco could fly, that it was not fully his father that got him on the team as he really was a great flyer and kept up with Harry easily. The beaters were brutal and the chasers were quite good. The game was intense, what other words can I say about it? Harry was a natural, the grace and ease with which he flew, stunts even professional players had a hard time came very easy to him. I pictured him as a bird Animagmus for a moment, I wondered if that is what he would become if he was an Animagmus. Draco barely kept up, but really he was a great flyer himself and I realized he had been truthful when he bragged to Harry about his skills flying.

"He is such a show-off." Severus muttered next to me.

"No he has a natural talent." I replied, "I have never see anyone fly like that a such a young age, Mr. Malfoy is not bad either."

"He was trained from a young age." Severus said proudly.

"Yes but Harry is a natural, even his father was not as good, but Lily, too bad she never decided to play Quidditch, she would have been almost as good as Harry." Minerva said.

"Lily was good at flying?" I asked.

"Yes, yes she was." Severus was the one to answer that surprisingly, "James was never as talented as her."

"I agree." Sirius said, "and she whipped him into shape, she was far too good for him and he knew it, but Harry is a natural talent, got him a training broom at one, Lily nearly killed me but Harry was in no danger, he never fell off, but he nearly killed the cat."

"Yes he did." Minerva said glaring at him, hmm, had she visited from time to time? "But that was not his fault."

The game was getting brutal, very much so, Fred and George were human demolition machines as they were able to aim the bludgers at the other team and hit them more often than not. I was glad that they were well padded with protective gear. The bludgers were not made of iron (that would kill even a magical) but instead made of rubber, still they could leave bruises and if they went fast enough they could break bones. Which is why they had a top speed charmed into them that kept them from going lethal speeds. Still the game was violent but fun to watch. Finally Harry saw the snitch, I saw it a full second after he did and watched as he did a full dive straight down to the ground. He caught the snitch and at the last moment pulled up his feet skimming the grass as he held the snitch up. The game was over the score was 360-200 Gryffindor win. I made my way down to the pitch with the other teachers and saw the two teems facing off.

"I have not seen such talent in all my years." I said trying to fend off a fight I knew would come if I did not head it off now, "an enjoyable game!"

"Very, though Mr. Potter got lucky." Severus said dryly.

"No that was not luck." Minerva said, "he is a natural talent, first time flying he avoided the wall of the castle."

"Well I did not want Neville's rememberall smashed." Harry said blushing a bit.

"Pure luck." Severus said again.

"No, no he has natural talent." Montague said surprising me, "too bad he has to be Gryffindor, but well I know that there are teams out there that will want him, I am going to the Wasps if all goes well, I hate having to do this but if you ever consider Quidditch the Wasps would love to have you."

"What about me?" Draco asked.

"You are very good, I am sure there will be offers for you as well." I replied, as if a Malfoy would ever fly professionally, that is too beneath them.

"Well then I think this calls for…"

"A party in your common room had better be what you were going to say." Severus said cutting of Fred.

"Of course sir!" Fred said with a too innocent look on his face.

"Yes, a nice party." George added.

"I do think the Slytherins should have one too, they really played well." Harry said, "Malfoy is not a bad flyer."

"I am a great flyer Potter." Malfoy snarled.

"True, but I am clearly the best." Harry replied, oh dear he was getting a bit of a ego, "I would rather be remembered for something I can do very well, not for something my mum did."

"You stopped the dark lord." Severus said.

"As if sir!" Harry said laughing, "no sir, my mum did, she took him with her that first time, I will finish him off sir, I promise."

If I had ever doubted the prophecy being activated and now being valid there could be no further doubt. Harry was the chosen one of this prophecy and he had sealed his fate with those words. I wanted him to live, I wanted him safe and I did not want him hurt! I really was feeling more and more like a mother to him, he turned and gave me a sad smile, he knew what I felt! But in that look more was communicated than anything, he knew I cared but he knew his duty. He went up to his common room and I went to my office with a heavy heart. I was surprised who came to visit me, it was Dumbledore, the last thing I needed was talking to him at this time.

"You care for him." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, yes I do, I was wrong about him." I replied, "he is nothing as I thought, he is very noble, very good, when I saw the memory of the graveyard I knew he had to be protected."

"You have been teaching him." Dumbledore said, ah, now we came to it, "Occulumency I take it?"

"Yes, since summer, something you did not even think of doing!" I retorted.

"I wanted him to have a childhood."

"More like turn him into a pig for slaughter!" I shot back, I was mad, and I was going to let him have it, "there is a prophecy about him, don't deny it! All signs, all he has gone through point to that! What do you do? Nothing, you don't train the boy, you don't teach the boy why this dark lord is after him! He had a connection to him, well still does but I used witches magic to block it! Had it occurred to you to even bring in a witch? No because withes are so beneath you, you beat for the other team to avoid us!"

"You think I don't care for him…"

"You don't'! You left him in a muggle neighborhood with a muggle family with no by your leave! You avoided him for ten years and barely had anything to do with him when he came to school! What kind of sick game are you playing with that poor boy?"

Dumbledore took a seat, he was not mad, he looked broken and boy did he deserve it. He actually begin to cry, I sat there glaring at him, let him cry, he deserved all I said to him. I hoped he felt guilty for how he treated the boy, for how he had betrayed Harry in the worst possible way. Dumbledore continued to cry and I was about to say something when Sirius came into the room. He looked from Dumbledore to me and back at Dumbledore a look of fear on his face. What had I done to get the headmaster of an ancient school to cry like this and look so broken? Then it clicked, and he glared at the headmaster, arms folded over his chest standing by the window.

"So you finally realized how badly you betrayed my godson?" Sirius said glaring at Dumbledore, "I have done wrong by Harry, I know that but I have an excuse, I am insane but at least I am trying you stone-less bastard!"

"I have no excuse for my actions, I had hoped to have more time, I wanted him to have a good childhood, and have to deal with Tom much later, he is not ready, we are not ready." Dumbledore said.

"So you do nothing, left him with an abusive family, he had such a_ lovey_ childhood living in a cupboard and being his cousin's personal punching bag!" I snarled, "coward."

"I am, I really am." Dumbledore said still looking so broken, "a coward, a wicked man and I have let down so many, many people, I should resign."

"No, not from Hogwarts, but from the ICW and the ministry yes." I said, "you will spend your last days here mentoring and taking care of the students, you will let me take care of Harry and you will tell him the prophecy and apologize for how you treated him."

"I can do that, but his mind?"

"Closed, I will make sure he is tested by Severus," at a glare from Sirius, "he is the best to do that, if Harry can keep him out than he can learn the prophecy."

"Fine, but I am there, he hurts my godson I hurt him." Sirius snarled.

"He will not, or I will have a nice pink horned toad." I replied, I turned back to Dumbledore, "now if you are trying to manipulate me I will castrate you, hang your mutilated corpse from the astronomy tower and when done with that turn you to a mouse and let Minerva have you for dinner!"

He nodded and shuffled from the room looking said and unhappy. He deserved it, he had done wrong in the books by Harry and I had to let him know what I thought about him. He would not be seen for a week, and I thought he might have done a runner or killed himself. Yet when he came out he had a new look in his eyes, a determination and I could only hope that look meant he was changing. He seemed nicer to Severus too, sure he was polite to the boy but now he seemed to really care. Severus was even more surly with him but he was not about to fully trust the old man (I hoped he did not as he was going to get betrayed in the seventh book, no not this time). I could only hope that my rant at the headmaster would result in good things and not a backlash on me or Harry.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So a bit of Quidditch and what Deloris thinks of it. Harry is clearly a natural at flying, I mean he flew a handful of times as a baby (which is a feat in of itself as most babies I know can barley walk much less ride even a tricycle)! As an eleven year old boy he gets on a ratty old broom and flies like a pro! This boy is talented and really could have been a great Quidditch player, it would have been so good for him to go that route for a while._

_As for yelling at Dumbledore, much needed and if he were real and I met him I would do the same. As I keep saying I do not believe in coddling Harry but I do believe telling him what he needs to know when he has proven his mind is clear. Sticking Harry at Privet Drive without talking to his relations was a bad move on Dumbledore's part and shows he knows nothing of muggle society. We don't do that to each other, putting children on doorsteps, if I found a kid on my doorstep I would raise the kid as my own but hunt down the one who did it and make them pay for harming the poor baby that way._

_Anyway, end of rant do review please!_


	9. Chapter 9: A History Lesson

_Azphxbrd: yes little changes can go a lot further than large at times. Especially in a world like that of Harry Potter._

_Not-A-Spy: I thought Deloris was being nice, she did not kill him outright, but hey maybe my idea of nice is not everyone else's idea of nice? :)_

Chapter Nine: A History Lesson:

Things only got better after my rant to Dumbledore, he might not fully agree with me but he respected me. Then again I showed I did care about Harry and though publically I ranted that Voldemort could not be back privately I knew the truth. Halloween came and went, Harry was brought to the great hall clad in a Superman costume and in a cold voice he threatened pain to those who had done this glaring at the twins. Seemed a full prank war was under way and I felt sorry for the twins, I knew they were going to loose, to the son of a Marauder. If there were a handbook for pranking I am sure Harry had it, and things did get interesting around Hogwarts with harmless pranks, like the permanent change of the stones from Hogsmeade village to the school from a dull gray to a nice bright yellow. The castle turned Emerald green one day as well and a portable swamp nearly swamped Harry on his way to potions one day. Singing armor, twins with green hair, twins with striped faces in pink and purple and a smirking Harry behind most of this and the list goes on and on.

On a cold November day he came much more serious to my office. We still kept our meetings secret, from all but the heads of houses. Minerva was here today having tea with me, we had become quite the friends as she knew my true views and loved the fact I was setting up Voldemort as best I could. I had my tea at my side and was working hard on knitting a soft warm blanket in pink, soft green and yellow. I enjoyed knitting and had before I came here, it was therapeutic and fun and you got to make things for other that would last and kept them nice and warm. A hand knitted sweater or jumper is far warmer hand made after all as they are made with love. There was a knock at the door and I bid the person enter, Harry came in and stood before my desk looking nervous.

"Harry take a seat, you don't need to stand." I said.

"I have an interesting question, I hope it's not offensive." He said.

"Nothing wrong with wishing to learn Harry." Minerva said, "unless you ask about witches magic, that is not for wizards."

"Oh nothing like that but um I was reading about unbreakable vows." He said, "they are said to be nearly as bad as the unforgivable curses and I was wondering why?"

"Ah yes, you wish to know why we all don't take a vow to never do anything harmful with our magic." I said sitting back to look at him, "this would take free will from everyone and nothing harmful could be done, do you not agree an animal is harmed when we kill it for food?"

"Yes, but what if we kept it from harming humans and other intelligent creatures?" Harry asked.

"I understand why you ask what you do, your mother did as well." Minerva said, "but to bind magic like that would take away our free will, and most people would refuse to take the vow."

"What would you do, kill those who refused to take the vow?" I asked as gently as I could.

"Um no! No, could we not just bind their magic?" Harry asked.

"No, trying to bind magic is folly, to bind the magic of a witch or wizard requires the one who binds them to have a part of their magic bound as well to keep the biding in place, that is if the person who is bound even survives the binding. On and magical articles to bind can be overcome by most witches and many wizards." I replied, "probably why Dementors are used at Azkaban though Goblins can keep prisoners in with runes and such a magical prisoner can be contained, take their wand and most can't use magic as it is. I hate Dementors."

"And what exactly changed your mind?" Minerva said.

"Cornelius showed me a memory of one of _them_ kissing a prisoner, and, and it was horrible, I don't care how bad a prisoner is, far more merciful to execute than allow _that_ to happen!" I replied. " Have had an epiphany and it started with young Harry here, he saved my soul."

"I don't see how." Harry said blushing.

"I do, you have stayed noble, good despite all that has been thrown at you, my eyes are open now where before they were closed, all due to you."

I did mean that, he had changed me for the better, and if any came wondering at the changes of Deloris Umbridge this statement would be all they needed to believe in the differences I had made and for them to move on. It seemed Harry was not done with his questions, as he shifted from about a bit. I did not mind, he had a right to ask anything and I would answer as best I could. I had learned so much of this world and I found much of it was good and pure, the dark arts and those things labeled dark were horrible things but as Deloris had enjoyed them I enjoyed teaching not only how to fight them but destroy them. It was fun destroying the evil woman that had been after all.

"What else can I help you with?" I asked.

"Why are there chastity wards on Hogwarts and why is it better for me to be a virgin?" Harry asked.

"Well it's all about giving you every advantage, noting wrong with sex." Here the boy blushed but I had to be honest, "but with magical beings as we are tied to the earth and magic more tightly we tend to share more during sex. We end up sharing our magic if you will. If there is no bonding with marriage than that leaves both lacking a bit, and virgins have their own brand of magic they can do, mostly witches."

"Witches have all the fun." Harry said, and he was partly right, "why is that?"

"Well we are closer to nature, but you wizards are stronger and can take lots of damage to make up for that." Minerva said, "a virgin witch is something no-one wants to tangle with and she is, on average only slightly less powerful than a married couple."

"Why then did Voldemort get so powerful?" Harry asked.

"Mostly propaganda and the use of dark arts and dark magic." I replied, "you know from what I have taught you dark arts and dark magic warp nature and force a form outside what the creator planned correct?"

"So that would make something like, well like a bloke make pregnant dark magic?" Harry asked.

"One of the darkest, yes as that takes what is a woman's right away from her." I replied.

"Thank you, I um just have lots of questions now and well I hope I am not a bother, never had anyone to ask before." Harry said.

"Well now you do." I replied.

"You can come to me too Harry." Minerva said, "I do hope you know that."

Harry had never been allowed to ask questions of his relations growing up, they would snap at him if he did. I felt for him, he was a normal wizard boy with normal questions and I could and would answer them for him. I wanted him to have someone he could trust, that way if he came across something rather evil and dark he would come to me and talk to me about it. Of course if any student came to ask me what he did I would answer them too, if I had time, but for Harry I would always make time. He meant that much to me and I saw him as my child, he was not but I could not help it as someone needed to mother him and badly!

I found myself heading to the baths just before Christmas, it seemed that the curses had been fully removed from the vast rooms and Bill was going to show Dumbledore. Naturally the heads of houses and I were invited and to the annoyance of one potions master Harry Potter was there talking with Bill. Ah, did Bill need someone who was a Parselmouth? That would fit with Harry being here, Fleur was here as well and she looked at me coolly, what did she have against me? The headmaster came in clad in bright robes with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Ah did you manage to get the curse off then?" Dumbledore asked, "Harry did you have fun learning about curse breaking?"

"Yes sir! I even helped Bill with his accent, he speaks Parseltongue really well sir. I was surprised that one could learn it, I thought you had to be born with the talent or end up with it like me."

"No that is not true." Fleur said in nearly flawless English with a bit of a French accent, "you have to have the will to learn it, to really wish to learn it." At a look from everyone, "please I am not just a pretty face, how do you think I was chosen for the Triwizard tournament? I would not have been allowed to come to compete if I was not so smart and talented."

"She is right, she is really brilliant." Harry said grinning, "I mean really smart, I can't keep up with her on half the stuff she does, no wonder Gringotts hired her."

"Thank you little boy." Fleur said smiling at Harry.

"Of course my warrior lady" Harry replied.

It was good to see Harry was friends with Fleur and aside from normal teen hormones he did not react to her allure at all. I turned and saw Severus snarl at the same time Sirius Black stroll in as if he owned the school. I still had to figure out how he of all people ended up on the board of governors. Than again he is lord Black and that does count for something. He was having a bit too much fun being publically cleared and had taken to wooing Rita Skeeter of all people. I was not amused, though she had started to write glowing reviews on him. I hoped nothing came of that I really did. Sirius was not really paying attention to the baths but was nearly drooling over Fleur. None of the other men here were, not even Severus (who I _knew_ was affected by her but refused to show it) but Sirius was being a dog and I was not amused, nor was Fleur. She turned to face Sirius looking upset.

"Oh hello lord Black." She said coldly.

"Hello beautiful." He said grinning.

"Oh I see, I am just a pretty face to you, a tart, a whore?" She said, for being a fire elemental like all her race she sure could freeze a room with words, "all I am is stuck up to women and to men an object of sex non?"

"No you really are not." Bill said, "far smarter than me."

"I am no good, a Veela and that means untrustworthy, a half breed, someone who should be categorized and tagged." This last comment was at me and I felt ashamed, the past Deloris before I became her thought that way and I had judged her harshly, and I was ashamed for how I had done so, "is that not right undersecretary?"

"I am sorry, truly." I said, "I know I was a horrible woman, a horrible person, but I am changing, I no longer want to be that wicked woman I was, and I judged to too harshly, can you forgive me?"

"Yes, but do not do so again, I have feelings too you know." She said.

"Yea, yea you do and you are beautiful, you and I…" Sirius started to say.

"That is it, you need to cool off!" Harry snapped.

Harry rounded on his godfather and shoved him hard, into the pool. Everyone stood here shocked at his actions. Minerva was trying as hard as she could not to laugh, her mouth now in a thin line, Dumbledore found the ceiling (enchanted like the great hall was to show the outside) very fascinating, Sprout was giggling and Filius looked as if Christmas had come early. Severus just arched an eyebrow at Harry who had moved far from the edge of the pool and closer to Bill and Fleur who smiled at him in approval. Sirius came up sputtering and coughing and scrambled out of the pool and looked at Harry wide-eyed. Harry just glared at him.

"Leave Fleur alone!" Harry snapped, "or I will turn your hair pink."

"I like pink."

"Fine than you will end up bald."

"Mr. Potter." Severus said silkily, "eight points from Gryffindor for contaminating the pool and ten points for protecting the honor of a lady."

Oh yes Severus won that round and of course no-one would give Harry detention for what he did. After all the headmaster claimed he saw nothing and the pool did need to be tested. Of course Harry was protecting his godfather from an angry part-Veela or that is what was claimed. I resolved to become friends with Fleur as I had been so petty, sure she was very pretty but who was I to hold that against her? It would be wrong and I needed all the allies I could get, I had a feeling that Voldemort might have got word of my "seeing the light" and might want to come after me, even if I was still a hag in public.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So a bit of history here and my view on why unbreakable vows are not really a good idea en-mass. I mean taking the free will of someone to stop violence seems good on paper but in reality it rarely ever works out very well. I am so against male pregnancy it isn't funny, I mean that would, IMO put women in grave danger. If men could get pregnant that could very well mean the end of women. I don't really see how magic could be bound without killing the individual, it would be nice if that could be done but I don't see that happening._

_As for Deloris and her reactions to Fleur, Fleur is far more than a pretty face I mean hello she was in the Triwizard tournament after all. What Harry did to Sirius was needed as Sirius would need to be put in his place more than once. I could see Harry doing that at times as I think he would be more like his mother._

_Anyway, do review please!_


	10. Chapter 10: Invited to Grimmauld Place

_Penny is Wise: Glad you like this! Well Snape is not a nice guy in canon, but he is good and though he can be harsh to Harry he does everything he can to keep him alive._

_Azphxbrd: I am glad you like this!_

Chapter Ten: Invited to Grimmauld Place:

The weeks passed and the Christmas holidays were coming up. I had resolved to spend my Christmas at Hogwarts but Harry had insisted that was not to be. I had not realized how much he had grown attached to me. He saw me as family and as my son was so far away (he stated in his letters and such he loved me, was not me but he could never come back to England) in America. To be invited to be with Harry at Christmas meant so much to me, more so that Sirius trusted me to be near his godson! So it was on a cold winters day I flooed over to Grimmauld place. I was told the location and was given the password to the floo (it changed all the time) and I exited into the parlor. Grimmauld place was nothing like what Jo described it, I knew it had been dark and dreary from what Harry told me but it was warm, inviting and felt like home. I saw a woman that had to be Molly Weasley, she was a couple inches taller than me, pump but shapely clad in navy robes with flowered apron and her flaming red hair in a bun.

"Hello Madam Umbridge, you have really worked your way into my Harry's heart." She said, hmm, cue mama bear, and I was fine with that, "he is in the kitchen."

"He is such a wonderful young man, he changed me for the better." I said, "I taught him Occulumency and he did not have a happy childhood but to look at him, he is not bitter, or cruel or anything like that, he is a sweet noble and good young man and I can't help but want to be like that."

"He is a good boy, and sweet, makes you want to protect him." Molly said.

"Yes he does, and it is so hard knowing what he has to do." I said sadly.

"I know." Molly said surprising me, "I want to hide him or run away with him but I know I can't, I just wish he had more time, and I hate he has to do what he has to do in the end. I would gladly switch places with him."

Well what do you know, she is very smart, and I could understand her reactions in the books, mostly the seventh book. She knew what Harry was going to do, and she tried to distract him with the wedding, and all. She saw him as a son, and she was like any mother, I felt the same way about Harry, I wanted to protect him but I knew what he had to do. Caring so much about him made it all that harder to let him do what he had to but in the end we had no choice. I followed her through the main hall, past a painting of headmaster Phineas Black and down the stairs and into the large kitchen. It was a combination commercial/home kitchen with stainless steel top of the line professional appliances that were made to run on magic, a brick oven where the fireplace normally would be for baking breads and pizza, warm terra cotta floors and poured concrete countertops with the cabinets in a rich dark oak. Harry stood at the island with Ginny, both clad in tee shirts and jeans working on dinner.

"Hello professor!" Harry said grinning at me, "sorry I did not come to greet you but I was cooking."

"Harry loves to cook." Molly said smiling sadly, "only thing he had to look forward to at his so called families home."

"Yea, drove my aunt spare, but my uncle and cousin didn't mind, in fact the more I cooked the better I was treated by them at least." Harry replied, "besides cooking is fun, it really is."

"I agree." Ginny said, "though mum limits us all as she likes to cook a lot."

"All of my children can cook, makes it easier for them when they start potions." Molly said just as a tall thin man with receding hair clad in rumpled navy suit came up, "this is Arthur."

"A pleasure to meet you." He said shaking my hand warmly, "I am glad there is someone from the ministry at Hogwarts that actually cares about the students."

"I do, I was very concerned by what had happened to Harry at Hogwarts, if he was put through that than clearly security at the school is not what it should be, Dumbledore is a senile old bat!"

Before more could be said Bill came into the room and glared at Ginny who smiled smugly at him. Ron came in and tried to snag some of the dough Ginny was rolling into bread and got his hand smacked, Fred and George came in next and froze at seeing Ginny. They fell to their knees before her bowing and scraping stating they were not worthy and for her to not hex or harm them. Molly was not amused and Bill looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. Then it clicked, I had become a good reader of people and I understood ancient customs. One of those was the firstborn rights. As a first born, either son or daughter one had certain rights. A firstborn son had those once he reached thirteen and could have the trace removed from him. Harry had this done as his right one he learned he had that right, a first born daughter had to claim her status and it seemed Ginny had done just that. This made why a boy like Severus and a monster like Tom Riddle could perform magic outside Hogwarts before they turned seventeen after all.

"Did Ginny here claim first born status?" I asked.

"Yea, Bill would not leave her alone, said a few things and would not shut it." Ron said looking a bit upset.

"So Ginny got angry, really angry." Fred said grinning.

"It was glorious, dad just sat reading his paper." George said, "and Ginny said 'as firstborn daughter I demand you shut it' and Bill has not been happy ever since."

"Now with you two around, one more prank and you two will end up as horned toads and I will deliver you to professor Snape myself, do not test me!" Bill snarled.

"Wow, someone is in a bad mood." Ginny said sweetly, "I am a firstborn and you can't do a thing about it Bill."

"Dad do something she can't she can't…."

"Bill act your age, you provoked Ginny and now you can live with the consequences, we all can now." Molly turned to me, "sorry about that, family squabbles."

"I don't mind." I replied.

A hour later dinner was served, Sirius appeared looking tired but he smiled at seeing Harry and took a seat at the table. Arthur was at the head as he was the oldest head of house here and Molly was on his right with Bill by her then the twins then Ginny. Sirius was at the foot of the table with Remus by his side, than Harry, Hermione and Ron. Dinner was amazing, Harry had made rabbit stew and honestly it was the best rabbit stew I had ever had. The fresh hot bread was amazing and the red wine was perfect with the meal. Once dinner was cleared dessert was brought forth and again Harry had outdone himself. He had made a peach and pear pie and a blackberry pie with fresh sweet whipped cream. I had known he could cook but this, this was amazing! He had a real talent that was for sure.

I settled into Grimmauld place and found myself rather well liked, I was surprised at that. What kid wants to spent time with an old out of date ugly woman like me? The teens introduced me to muggle music and I was "corrupted fully" as Molly said a smile on her face. She liked much of it as well as the muggles really were very talented after all. I did spend much of my time with the adults, Molly and Arthur were fun to be around and Sirius was turning out to be a good man. Then again opening his home to the Weasleys was a smart move, the darkness was gone and love filled the home. The funniest thing happened a few days after I came to Grimmauld place and involved Remus.

It was decided to have Chinese food and so it was ordered from a little place in Soho which was not far from Grimmauld place, in fact Grimmauld place was on the edge of the trendy neighborhood. I was in the kitchen where the elves had (as they always insisted on doing) set the table. Sirius was there talking with Bill when Remus came into the room. He was wet and carrying Chinese food, do you know how hard it was not to laugh? He put the Chinese food on the large island and turned to see Bill doing his best to not laugh, Remus sighed and put his head in his hands realizing he had lived up to a song.

"So Remus Soho?" Bill asked.

"Shut it." Remus replied.

"No Chinese menu." Sirius added stroking his chin.

"No, but Chinese food, and it was Soho and raining!" Bill said, catching on quickly "any beef chow mien?"

"No, beef chow fun." Remus said, "Peaking duck, crispy pork, beef with broccoli, three kinds of chow fun, beef pork and duck and a side of death for you Sirius."

"I don't know a dish called side of death." Sirius said and Remus tackled him, "ow Remus it's funny! It's not that time of month not even close!"

"Boys stop fighting and come get dinner now!" Molly shouted.

They did and dinner was good, everyone was able to use chopsticks and Harry started to howl in laughter as he heard it was Remus who went for the Chinese, in Soho, in the rain. I had a feeling that joke was going to be wore out before too long and it was clear Remus was not amused. Nor was the young woman clad in pink tee shirt, jeans and boots with spiky pink hair that joined us. This had to be Nymphadora Tonks, she sat by Remus and after hearing what was so funny glared at everyone and told them to sod off. Remus smiled at her and she grinned at him and made a plate of food for herself. She saw me and smiled a warm smile, hmm she did not hate me though I am sure she had a right to.

"Wotcher, I am Polly Tonks." She said, "I hate my real first name so we compromised when I was a kid, Polly, as well I am a ah…"

"Metamorphmagus?" I said, "I wish I were one, I mean look at me, I am quite ugly."

"No you are not, you are far too harsh on yourself." She replied, "as is Remus."

"I am a monster, you know one that can kill and tear you apart one a month?" Remus replied.

"So am I love." Tonks, no Polly said, really I had to get used to that nickname! "I am a woman."

"You know what I mean." Remus replied, "too poor, too dangerous…"

"Well you are a monster it is true but only once a month." I said, "you cannot pass on your furry condition and as long as you have an alpha there is not illegal about you getting together."

"I thought werewolves could not marry." Harry said.

"Only female werewolves can't, they can pass on the Lycanthropy via pregnancy, but there are very few female werewolves, less than one percent of all werewolves are." Sirius said, "most werewolves eat women up, than again women are…."

"Sirius enough!" Arthur said sternly taking his place at the head of the table, "it is true about werewolves, I did take the time to learn about them once I learned what Remus was and he is no Greyback."

"No he is not, he is as much a victim as I am and my dear husband was." I said, "I am glad Greyback is dead."

"Yes as am I." Remus said, "I wish a cure could be found, though Severus did help in fine tuning a vaccine."

"Now Pol all I said is you and Moony will have multi colored pups what is wrong with that?" Sirius said backing from the table.

Arthur let Polly (still weird saying that) beat the tar out of Sirius for thirty seconds before he cleared his throat to get them back to the table. He looked at Molly who was getting worked up and both paled and sat quickly. Dinner was a more subdued affair after that and I enjoyed my Chinese food very much. Molly had made a wonderful treacle tart for dessert and I enjoyed that almost as much as Harry who fought off Bill of all people and got his hands on an extra slice. Bill grinned at him and I was sure he had given up rather quickly in that "fight" to let Harry have as much as he wanted. This was not to say that Harry got away with everything, no he was treated just like the other boys in the family and I came on him wrestling and fighting for all he was worth mainly with Fred and George many an evening. I just gave them a glare but Molly, Molly was much louder, than again she did love to instill fear into the teens.

I enjoyed the days leading up to Christmas, and Harry trying to sneak into order meetings. I was not a member of the order but that did not matter, I had influence of another sort as I would meet with Cornelius at least twice and week with a report on Hogwarts. I did not have much to say only that the students liked me and seemed to be moving away from Dumbledore. Now back to Harry, the first time he tried to sneak in was under his cloak and Moody found him, he tried to use the twins extendable ears to no luck. Then he took to leaving books out with bugs in them (yes they were of the electronic kind) but they were shaped like bugs and were found quickly. Then he took to baking and he really thought he had them then. That is until the order left the room and Severus found the too innocent looking teen reading a book in the library where I was at as well. Harry looked up and Severus held out something that looked rather burnt and in horrible shape.

"Mr. Potter as amusing as it is for you to try to get information on the meetings you have failed." Severus said.

"No, I have Dobby, Dobby!" Harry called looking smug.

"I am sorry Harry Potter sir but Harry Potter sir's dogfather told Dobby he could not be in the meetings, nor could Winky." Dobby said.

"Foiled again." Harry said looking more amused than upset, "oh well I will keep trying."

"Not until you close that mind of yours, I could read it without even trying." Severus said coolly.

"Go ahead, cast the spell." Harry said looking him in the eye and not flinching when Severus did just that.

"Pitiful Potter, why your mind is as open as ever! Using a Swimsuit Issue to distract your dogfather will not work though I do hope Black cast the chastity wards around Grimmauld place!"

"I like girls sir but I plan to stay a virgin until I marry." Harry said blushing (magical teens unlike their muggle counterpart do stay virgins due to the virgin magic), then grinning, "so what else did you see?"

"Nothing, you are a typical teen boy, your mind on sex and not much else, if anything." Severus shot back.

"So nothing else?" Harry said grinning widely now. "It worked, I really did keep you out!"

"Yes you did." I said, his front memories were working, these are ones placed so that the Legulimans casting the spell does not know you are hiding anything. "I take it that is all you saw Severus?"

"Yes, so the brat can close his mind than?" Severus said coldly.

"Yes, it seems he can, you saw what he wanted you to see." I replied, "though where is this swimsuit magazine?"

"Um its not porn!" Harry nearly whined, "it isn't, it's just girls in bikinis at the beach honest!"

I had to let it go, he was telling the truth, Molly had found the swimsuit issue already. Harry was going to get the talk, no not from Arthur, from Molly and he just had no idea poor boy. Okay not poor boy but she had gone through this with six boys already and would take Harry through this as well and he would survive the experience. Though I would love to sit in on that as he was going to be so embarrassed! Yes it is mean but it is great sport to embarrass a teen, it really is.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So yes lots of fluff here, but needed. I always have liked the Weasley family and I think Jo did a good job showing they cared about Harry, after all they owe him three life debts! One with Ginny, one with Arthur and one with Ron. But that is not the only reason they like him, Harry is a sweet boy sure he has his moments but he really is a good sweet kid, he really is. _

_Anyway please review!_


	11. Chapter 11: Christmas Revelations

Chapter Eleven: Christmas Revelations:

Christmas day came and I was up early as I knew the teens would be up bright and early. I made my way to the kitchens for Christmas breakfast, Molly had pulled out all the stops, with help from those of her children that liked to cook. There was far more food than the family could eat, mostly pastries and the like. This was not just a Christmas tradition but something the Weasleys did as much as they could. They might not have a lot of money but they had very fertile land and never went hungry. The extra food would be given to the local soup kitchen, something the Weasleys liked to do. As I stated they were poor but they shared what extra they had with others who had nothing and I was humbled by this. We took the food to a local soup kitchen and handed it out, and there was enough for everyone.

After this it was time to open presents and we met in the drawing room to do just that. I was surprised to get so many gifts, lots of chocolate (I love chocolate, very much) _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ from Fred and George, a very rare first edition copy of William Shakespeare's plays from Remus. Harry got me a wonderful crystal decanter shaped like a cat filled with light and dark pink M&Ms and a first edition of _Paradise Lost_. I was very surprised to get a pretty pink scarf from Molly and gave her a hug, we had become friends as we both had the same job of taking care of Harry. Dear sweet Harry he really did grow on one and I liked him as he was such a good dear boy. The rest of the day went by pleasantly, we had the full Christmas dinner with a large goose at the center and of course a real Christmas pudding too.

What I had learned since becoming Deloris is the fact that most witches and wizards in Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia and Africa were Christian. I had assumed reading the books this was not fully the case but should have known that they were by the fact that they celebrated Christmas and Easter. The witches and wizards in the old Roman empire had accepted Christianity sooner than most other groups as they were accepted in the Christian community. It was the Romans and the old tribes of Europe who did not accept magic and hunted down and killed witches and wizards. This stemmed from the ancestors of the witches and wizards and what they had done that really was very wrong of them.

It started in ancient Egypt with the pharaohs who had created a faith of their own to rule the people. Now they had been good to the people for a long time, thousands of years in fact. That is until a small tribe came to live and the chosen son of that tribe helped save the ancient Egyptians. At first this small tribe, the Israelites had been welcomed but after a time they were enslaved and the pharaoh of the time decided that the Israelites were becoming a threat. He decided to kill all the baby boys and use their deaths for blood magic, an evil branch of magic that should never be used as it requires the death of innocents to work. He ended up one baby short of what he need to fully control the Nile and that baby grew up to be Moses and we all know what happened from the bible.

This broke Egypt as one did not mock God and his chosen people and get away with it. Still the ancient magical people did not learn and ended up ruling the Greek peoples as false gods for a thousand years before they were overthrown. By this time the good magical people had enough of the lies and started to look for a true religion that did not enslave or harm others. They found it a few hundred years later with Christianity and fully embraced it. However things were not to remain so peaceful as by the time that Hogwarts was founded the so-called religious leaders of the day targeted anyone magical they could find. The magical community mostly hidden really started to hide more and more until the time of the statue of secrecy was put in place in 1692 and pulled the whole magical world out of contact with the muggle world. Main reason was the fact that muggles were getting very powerful, and they had weapons that could kill a wizard far easier than bows and arrows, fast loading muskets that would evolve into the weapons of the modern age.

A few days after Christmas I walked into the kitchen of Grimmauld place and saw a tall handsome man speaking to Sirius. He looked vaguely familiar but I could not fully place him. He was clad in a simple black suit with dark red turtleneck sweater, his long curly dark brown hair was tied back from his face and he had a thick full mustache and sad brown eyes. He saw me and walked up taking my hand gently kissing it gently as a gentleman would. He had a family ring on his right ring finger and there was a since of danger about him. It was at this time Remus walked in the room and actually growled his blue eyes flashing as he took in the tall stranger. I backed away, this creature for creature is what it was, was a vampire!

"Sirius what is that monster doing here?" Remus snarled.

"Moony, Deloris meet count Vlad Dracula of Wallachia, now part of Romania at your service." Dracula said smiling sadly at me, "and werewolf you cannot kill me, though I wish you could."

"You foul creature of hell!" Remus snarled, and that was when Harry walked into the room, "don't you harm my pup!"

"Whoa, Dracula!" Harry said grinning getting everyone to look at him, "what? I saw Bram Stoker's Dracula and he looks so like him!"

"I am really Dracula, and the book about me was amusing, as are the movies, and the werewolf is right I am a monster." Dracula said sighing sadly, "I do want to die, oh how I wish I could, but I have been cursed so I do not."

"You were beheaded and your head was taken to the sultan." I said, "how did you survive?"

"That sadly was not me, I am a monster, I killed thousands, horribly and thought I had a right to." Dracula said.

"But you did save eastern Europe from the Turks." Sirius countered.

"Yes but at what cost?" Dracula sighed, "I killed innocent people, impaled children, it took me two hundred years to realize how wrong I was and to realize I was cursed being a vampire, I was turned in the rarest of ways, buy a curse not through the normal way."

"What getting bit?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but unlike the werewolf bite one has to want to be a vampire, you have to be drained nigh to death and then and only then take the blood of a vampire who has not drained you. So you really have to want it, I was cursed sun will burn me, but I will not die, I can be staked, beheaded, blown up and I will simply come back. Why you ask? I was curse to save as many innocent lives as I took, I have a long way to go and will not die until I finish my task."

This was a horrible curse, and I wondered why he had not just been sent to hell. Unless he was a chosen one, yes that made since. He had been chosen and had not fulfilled what he should have and had made a promise on top of that to defend his lands no matter what. He walked up to Harry and I stiffened as he gently brushed his fridge aside and looked at his scar. He had stepped back just as Bill came in the room with Dumbledore who frowned at the vampire. Remus was being held back by Sirius who looked as if he still wanted to tear the vampire to pieces. I did not blame him as Dracula was a foul evil creature and who knew if he was telling the truth. I was surprised to see the vampire roll up a sleeve and show rune script in red up his arm. I knew what that was and knew right then he was telling the truth.

"You know you have a Horcrux in your scar?" Dracula said.

"He what?" Sirius said and one could feel the temperature drop in the room from the magic radiating off lord Black, "one of those is in my godson?"

"Let me see, can I Harry?" Bill asked.

"Ask me to dinner first." Harry quipped and at a glare from me, "sorry, that was uncalled for, you can Bill."

"Let's see then." Bill said taking out a crystal and moving it over his scar, "ah yes, well there is a bit of soul there, hmm, you isolate it professor?" This to me.

"Yes, I was not sure what it was, I knew it did not belong there, just thought it a bit of darkness connected to this dark lord, but what is a Horcrux?"

"One of the most foul evil things one can create." Sirius said, "my mother dared to try and make one, she murdered my father! You have to commit murder and fully mean it, than your soul is shattered and through a series of rituals you draw a shard of soul out and put it into a container. There are very serious downsides to this, first it makes the one who makes a Horcrux sterile and takes magical power from the one who makes it. It can turn the one who makes it into a squib and then they die you see."

"Ah, that is horrible so how do we get this out of my head?" Harry asked.

"Well I can get the supplies and such, by the end of the year we can have it out." Bill said, "but it will hurt like hell I must warn you. Let me guess Riddle made more than one?"

"Yes, I think he made six" Sirius replied, "ask me no more about them, please, to protect you."

"You have said plenty." Dumbledore said coldly , "there was no need to share all that."

"Sure there was, those who make one of these are fools and do not gain immortality." Dracula replied, "they might live for a time but their containers are always found, I do help with that."

"But you cannot destroy them, that is why you need a witch or wizard." Harry said. "Right?"

"Yes, you are correct."

Dumbledore took a seat at the scrubbed wooden table and watched Harry who was busy preparing dinner. Harry was a dear and a brat, he got his way nearly all the time, even with Molly who caved in and let him cook, a lot. The house elves would grumble a bit but he always let them clean up in exchange for letting him cook. Telling them he loved their cooking but it made him happy to cook got the little house elves on his side. He was making chicken with rhubarb that evening and had already started the brown rice in the rice cooker and the house elves had preheated the oven and brought him what he needed to cook, like knives, bowls, cutting boards, the chicken and everything else. He did the actual cooking. In fact he even started to hmm a bit as he was cooking and everyone could not help but look at the happy teen as he cooked. He looked up at us with a puzzled look.

"Do I have something on my nose?" He asked.

"No, no my dear boy you do not, it is refreshing to see you like to cook." Dumbledore said smiling at him.

"Well it makes me happy, potions is nice but too exacting, I can't experiment there as I would blow something up, but here I can. Bill as long as you promise me a pretty girl you can take out the shard." Harry said grinning at Bill.

"Sure, Hermione can take care of you." Bill said.

"I did not mean my sister in all but blood, besides she and Ron belong together." Harry replied.

"Have you gone mad?" Bill said, "Hermione deserves better, I love Ron but he is so annoying and mean to her!"

"Trust me she is just as bad." Harry said grinning, "I have a pool going you see, I have galleons staked on this! They will get together just you wait and see, I was thinking of Luna."

"Luna, as in Luna Lovegood?" I said not seeing that at all.

"Sure, she is scary brilliant, and though she says some strange things she gets me." Harry said smiling.

Things were getting interesting as now it seemed Harry knew he was a Horcrux. It was good Bill was here and had a way to get it out of him with out killing him. Why had not Dumbledore asked anyone about these? Why had he not studied them fully and asked for help? He would have got it and in spades, Horcruxes were not as dangerous as he thought and many a dark lord refused to even attempt to make one as there were so many down sides to it. Things were moving forward and I could not but help but be a bit proud of Harry to take this in stride. Then again aside from the few times he lost his temper he always took things in stride, even his awful childhood. Things were going to get far more interesting I was sure of it before all was said and done.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So the plot thickens, as Harry can close his mind (and Voldemort cannot access it at all, witches magic and all) he can know of them. A bit of history as well of the magical world and a way to bring in Vlad Dracula and good vampires, which are very rare in this story but do exist, but they do not sparkle!_

_Anyway, do review please!_


	12. Chapter 12: Back at School

_Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! _

Chapter Twelve: Back at School:

I went back to school a day after Christmas, I could not let Cornelius get suspicious as to where I was. I was sure he would not understand as he did not like or trust Harry Potter at all even though the boy had been telling the truth. Things had gone very differently this year, there was no attack on Arthur and I wondered at that. Someone had asked for access to the Department of Mysteries and try as I might I could not figure out who had done it, my thoughts had strayed to Harry but he would be recognized no matter the disguise by his magical signature. So it was not him, there were reports of a snake being sighted but other than that nothing more was heard on that subject.

I headed down to the baths as I wanted to see how the repairs had gone. I walked in to see the space looking better than new, every mosaic, stone, tile, pillar and window gleamed and the bath was filled with crystal clear water. I did not smell chlorine and was glad, they probably used salt instead, no I could see the hint of a current, so they kept fresh water circulating, that was a good idea. I saw two people swimming in the deep end and flashed back a bit to a certain TV show I had watched when I was younger. I was feeling a bit like a certain FBI agent, no wait this was a different world. I came up to the edge of the pool and watched as two men got out of the water.

Oh dear, they were taking full advantage of the students being away (well most of them that is) and both were hardly wearing a thing and I can tell you right now speedo swim suits hide very little on a man. One was Severus the other Bill, they really were the same build, and height. But where Severus had a scattering of black hair on his chest Bill had a good amount of red hair on his. I was doing my best to look straight at their faces, I didn't really need to see how well endowed both men were I really did not. I did notice Severus was wearing a small green speedo and Bill navy blue. Bill did have two tattoos, one was a cross on his left forearm the other a protection rune on his upper right arm. I heard someone come up and turned to see Minerva with a frown glaring at the two men.

"I do hope you two do not think you will be allowed to swim here like this again?" Minerva said.

"Oh we can swim starkers? My favorite way!" Bill said grinning, the grin fading at the glare he got.

"I am sure your mother would love to hear you swam nude in Hogwarts." I said dryly.

"Right, but what is wrong with these?" Bill asked.

"Teen girls." Severus said, "it's not as if I would swim with students."

"If they see you, you will never have a moments peace here." Minerva countered and with a wave of her wand fastened two towels around the men's waists.

"I don't have a moments peace as it is, besides Deloris likes my body." Severus said leering at me.

"You could stand to gain some weight." I replied.

"Bloody hell why does she do that?" Severus muttered looking past me. "Stupid little chit."

I turned to see Fleur clad in a modest navy swim tank with board shorts walk by the men and bat her eyelashes at Severus. I knew she knew he was very much affected by her, and that he did his best to not show it and control his mind. She loved to tease him and she was not the only woman who did, Polly did as well and she was horrible about it too. Bill just grinned at Fleur who smiled sweetly at him. Severus was taking careful deep breaths, and finally he could not take it anymore. He walked away muttering about showering and I resisted the urge to tell him to take a nice cold shower. Once he had gone to the boy's showers I saw Fleur looking after him with a concerned look. What was going on? She turned to me and smiled sadly, something really was going on and I wanted to find out just what.

"I know it could seem cruel but I have been hitting him with my allure." Fleur said, "I am enough Veela I can control my allure, it is defense as it enthralls most men and keeps them doing what we wish. I have been using my full allure against him to strengthen his Occulumency."

"It's formidable on him but this helps even more, Riddle should not be able to see anything now really." Bill said, "I wish he did not have to spy, I wish I had not judged him before either."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He is a good man, has a dark humor and made a mistake yes. To many judge a man like him and say he is evil and wicked but he is not, I know he is not." Bill said, "you know I offered to remove the dark mark from his arm?"

"He refused." I said, "now who is acting the Gryffindor."

"We Gryffindors do not have a monopoly on bravery." Bill said, "Slytherins can be as brave as we can, hell of a lot more cunning but just as brave."

"Ron would have a fit to hear you say that." Fleur said, "you English and your houses, such a strange thing."

"Yea well we like it, tradition and all that, all houses have their good points and drawbacks. We really should sort by lots, what number you pick is the house you go to, the numbers change each year." Bill said.

"That is a really good idea." I replied.

It really was, this inner house rivalry would dry up rather fast if such a lottery was put in place, instead of a hat draw lots and go from there. Houses would be based more on, well more on what they should instead of the rivalry that they did now. Bill threw off his towel, headed to the diving board (newly put in as the baths were large enough for a shallow end and a large deep end for diving) and dove off into the water. I heard someone come up and saw the aged headmaster with Alastor Moody, ah he did not trust me, but then I had not been nice in the past. He was horrible looking, it was not his fault but his face was so full of scar tissue it was nearly impossible to call it ha face, he had two horribly mis-matched eyes, one brown, one vivid blue, his only saving grace was his mass of lush, thick, full gray hair that fell to his shoulders. He was clad in the high collared navy blue uniform of the Aurors with a brown overcoat and he was leaning on a staff.

"Wish these were free to use when I was a student." Moody said, "better than a cold lake in the dead of winter."

"Yes, thank you William, now that you have tackled this could you take a look at the defense classroom?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sure thing, should be easy after this, the curse on these were pretty bad but they are all gone, had the them remodeled fully just to make sure as well." Bill said from the side of the pool.

"Yes and they are pleasant enough." Severus said walking up fully dressed, "what are you doing here Moody?"

"Just came t' see that the students are safe." Moody replied.

"They were until you showed up." Severus said softly, "pervert."

"Excuse me boy?" Moody said walking straight up to Severus into his personal space, "ye sure did not learn manners last time I spoke with ye did ye?"

"Mad-eye leave him alone!" Fleur said looking angry at Moody, "he is good and you know it, I know you do!"

"Yea, yea he is, but still ugly."

"Says the man with a puzzle for a face." Severus said coolly.

"I was good looking at one time, Deloris can attest to that." Moody said looking at me.

"Yes, what the death eaters did to him, well I do not like death eaters." I said, "luckily there are none here I can show my displeasure to."

"Severus I was wondering have you seen Sirius?" Dumbledore asked, "he has not been seen for a few days."

"I have not see Sirius Black, no." Severus said giving a sharp whistle, "no but I have a nice black dog who seems to have taken a liking to my potions lab."

I saw Padfoot walk up, a nice green collar around his neck. Dumbledore was not amused but then if Sirius had gone to Severus's lab than he got what he deserved. If all that Severus did was force him to stay in his Animagmus form than that was not too bad. Everyone knew that Sirius was far sweeter as Padfoot and far better behaved and I liked the sweet black dog very much. Padfoot walked up to me and I could smell the flowery pet shampoo used on him, huh, someone had given him a bath. I saw the cute green bow then and knew exactly who had bathed him, Hermione loved to get revenge and this was just her kind of revenge. Then again she did not get along with Sirius and had nearly hexed the portrait of Phineas Black more than once when he said and I quote "strong muggle born lass like you is what Black house needs to become stronger, we need once and while to bring in new stock ".

"Ah he never looked better." I said scratching the dog behind his ears, "such a well behaved boy."

"Only in dog form." Bill said, "I had fun knocking him down a time or two, he needed it."

"Let's be friends shall we?" Severus said.

"We already are." Bill said getting Severus to look at him keenly, "really, if you want a kid like me as a friend, you are the bravest man I ever knew sir. Proof positive that not all the bravest go to Gryffindor."

"Right that, take a look at me." Moody said.

"Pervert like you should not be here Moody." Severus shot back.

Severus refused to back down, glaring down at the short but powerfully built Auror who was once more back in his personal space. The tension was so thick one could have cut it with a knife and neither man was backing down. I could tell that Severus was a bit afraid (not many could but I had that knack) but he refused to show it or back down. Moody leaned on his carved staff and continued to glare up at Severus with both eyes. Severus glared down his nose at him but refused to move, even when Moody poked him with his finger. All he got for that was Severus narrowing his eyes and clinching his fists in rage. Bill came his rescue in a very tactful way that would not get Severus mad at him.

"Hey mad-eye why are you here?" He asked, "wanted to see my work, well part of it, the repair crews did an amazing job restoring this place."

"Aye they did." Moody said slumping away from Severus, "how did you get rid of the curses?"

"There is a reason Bill was allowed into Egypt at such a young age." Fleur said, "he is very powerful and very good at what he does."

"Yes he is."

"Can you block that eye of his from seeing things he should not?" Severus said getting Dumbledore to stare at him and Minerva to take out her wand, to stop a fight I was sure was coming, "pervert."

"Severus!" Minerva and I said at once appalled he keep this up.

"His eye, is magical, forgive me if I try to protect your honor." Severus said coolly, "I am sure he enjoys what he sees."

"It's magical boy, can only see normal human range, in the dark and magic, nothing more. I can no more tell what you got under yer robes than I can tell the winning lottery numbers for magic six." Moody growled at Severus, "you need to learn manners boy."

"Make me." Severus said coolly.

"Gladly."

"Stop it both of ye, or I will shew ye what I kin do!" Minerva said, she resorted back to her native Scots accent when she was angry, "na apologize or it is detention fer both of ye!"

"I apologize." Severus said.

"Same here." Moody added.

"So what brings you here?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh I wanted to see the Zabini boy, his mother was just arrested fer poisoning the boy's father. Took us a long time but we got a tip, I am having Poppy check him over for any spells or potions."

"Ah, well I must go see to him." Severus said walking to the door, "he must be traumatized by your ugly face by now."

"Ladies don't mind my face boy, that does not matter in bed!" Moody shot back.

"At least I don't have to pay, they want me." Severus said, then he was gone.

I expected Moody to be really angry at that, but all he did was laugh, so Severus amused him did he? I had given the tip on madam Zabini anonymously of course, I had known about this woman in the past and now acted on it. A secret tip on where she was hiding her poison, the report on the death of young Zabini's father and the connection was made. I felt for the boy and hoped this shock did not hurt him too badly. Then again I was sure he had an idea what his mother did, after all her past husbands had all died in rather interesting ways. Things were heating up, but it would be a few months before I found out just what had been going on fully. At least I had been able to help Blaise Zabini and his mother, who was a killer of the worst sort was out of the way. I could not believe that before I took over as Deloris she had been so evil to not act on knowledge she had on a very evil woman. I walked from the baths to get ready for my classes wondering what other changes I could make from behind the scenes.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Just a bit of showing that Severus has friends, Bill I am sure would respect him for his spying. Think about it, he is a curse breaker, I am sure he has worked with others who have done far worse than Severus and so Severus being a death eater might not even phase him. He has to have seen lots of horrible and shocking things and I am sure as a curse breaker he has ways to detect if someone is really evil or not as well._

_Anyway do please review!_


	13. Chapter 13: Books and Badgers

Chapter Thirteen: Books and Badgers:

A couple of weeks passed and things were relatively peaceful. It was a weekend and time for a trip to Hogsmeade for me (students third year and up could go every weekend not just a scant few here and there) to get some sweets from Honeydukes. I love chocolate and they do stock the very best the world over, both magical and muggle alike. Witches and wizards did not come up with modern sweets, they copied those from the muggle world. I had got my sweets when I saw the new display for chocolate frog cards. They were a limited edition of the heads of houses at Hogwarts. Severus was either going to love this or blow a fuse rather quickly. It was not childish of me to buy a full set, I did like chocolate frogs and four of them would go great with tea later.

I walked outside and spied trouble right away, in the form of Weasley twins. They had their own limited addition chocolate frog cards in hand and were reading the back of one when they saw Severus enter the village. Have you ever watched a train wreck, or car crash or the like and wanted to turn away but did not dare as you thought you could do something to stop the inevitable? It was like that as I watched the boys walk up grinning as they took in the most feared professor in Hogwarts (even I could not top him, really he was fair in classes but very strict), something was going to happen and I hurried over to witness the turning to ash of two very bright boys. Severus glared at them and they grinned back, no-one grinned back at him like the Weasley twins.

"What do you gentlemen want?" Severus asked, "another howler from your mother in stereo perhaps?"

"Ah no, no sir." Fred said fear coming over his features, "we saw these."

"Limited addition chocolate frog cards sir!" George said holding up Severus's card for him to see, "you have one sir!"

"I do, I see." Severus said taking the card and reading it, "well they can't even get the facts right!"

"What facts Severus?" I asked.

"I am not one of the best potions masters." Severus said, "only the best potions master!"

"It should add you need to wash your hair." Sirius said walking up taking the card, "my you are as ugly as ever."

"Tell me Black, how did Padfoot's neutering appointment go?" Severus said softly, ouch Sirius stepped back as if slapped, "or was there nothing there they could take?"

"You son of a…"

"Hello Sirius, professor Snape." Came the voice of Harry, "Sirius leave professor Snape alone!"

"Harry why do you take his side, Merlin you are your mother's child!" Sirius whined.

"Someone has to be." Remus said walking up, "sorry Sirius but Lily was the kinder and more mature of the two."

"He said I had no balls!" Sirius said, "he can't say that about me."

"Maybe you should stop picking on professor Snape." Harry replied.

"It's fun and I really like to annoy him, not hurt him but annoy him! See what buttons I can still push." Sirius said, "and he goes and insults me!"

"You started it." Severus said, somehow Sirius ended up with pink hair and I did not see Severus even draw his wand, "did you know you have pink hair?"

Sirius sputtered and fumed but as I had not seen Severus draw his wand (had he done what he did with out a wand?) he could do nothing to Severus with out looking bad. I headed to the Hairdressing Salon as I was due for a dye and a perm for my hair. A few hours later I headed back to Hogwarts and found a parcel on my desk. Checking it for any dangerous things I carefully unwrapped it and found a book titled _The Life and Lies of Lord Voldemort_. I opened the front cover and saw in tidy scrip that this book was given to me by Harry as a gift and he hoped I liked it. It was written by Rita Skeeter (who I hoped was in deep hiding right about now) there was a forward that thanked the various ghosts who had helped her with the book and that she wanted the truth out no matter what happened to her.

I read the book, it was not long, about a hundred and ten pages but it showed Voldemort's life from how his mother had used an illegal and potentially deadly love potion on a muggle to his abandoning her (gee I wonder why that was). It told of his time in the poor but still caring Cole's orphanage where he was a bit of a bully. Nothing to shocking there and nothing to really show he was going to be a dark lord, just a kid who wanted to get his own way and needed a few boundaries. It told how he had been very well liked at Hogwarts and how his professors liked him well enough. It was here he had set the basilisk on Myrtle but at the reaction of her death he had shut the chamber and set Hagrid up. He claimed his right as a firstborn and got the trace removed and was able to hunt down and murder in cold blood his own family. After Hogwarts he went to work for Borgin and Burke and then disappeared before he became the dreaded dark lord Voldemort.

"I see you got it." Severus said walking into my office and taking a seat later that night, "the dark lord is not pleased with it."

"Are you hurt?" I asked seeing him wince.

"Just a few curses." He said, "nothing to worry about."

"If he used _Crucio_ on you than yes, it is something major to worry about, and don't you shrug it off as if it is nothing! You don't deserve that, maybe your robes dyed pink once and a while but not that!"

"I could start liking pink." Severus shot back, "fine, go get Poppy, she will just hunt me down if…"

"I am already here." Poppy said walking in my office, I really needed to start charging admission if everyone was going to just use my office for their own "what did he do?"

"Two _Crucio_, he was not as angry with me, then again I did get him the strengthening potions he needs, or so he thinks." Severus said, "going to buy me dinner first?"

"Enough of your cheek young man, I really should take you to the hospital wing." Poppy replied.

He sneered but let her scan him with her wand and hand him several vials to drink. He did so and soon he started to get sleepy, it was clear he was not going to make it to his rooms. He sat down on the couch and I looked up at Poppy, no words were needed, she knew I would take care of him. She helped me steer him to the hidden door to my rooms and to the small but comfortable second bedroom. I slipped off his outer robes and boots and helped him lie down on the bed and covered him with a quilt. He was fast asleep at once and looked even younger laying there as he curled up like a cat snuggling into the quilt. Poppy gently brushed a lock of his dark hair from his face and smiled sadly at him.

"He never was evil, he thinks he is." Poppy said, "I know why he joined him, he promised to protect our world and trapped a lot of good young men like Severus. Not all death eaters are bad you know, there are a few like Severus who are trapped."

"Well the book should help keep others from joining him." I said

"Yes, well I do think that will help, such a waste, Tom could have been a great wizard but chose evil, even if he had been abused he could have done the right thing and rose above it. In the end he chose not to." Poppy said, "Severus did chose to come back and do what was right, and he suffers for it."

"Well he can stay here for the night and I will watch over him." I said, "least I can do."

Poppy stayed for a cup of tea and, even my male tortoiseshell cat (yes I know nearly all tortoiseshell are female but there is the rare male one out there and I had one) came up and sniffed at her robes before he took a seat by me. After a time she left for the evening and I went to bed. I woke early like I always did and got ready for the day and walked into my kitchen to see Severus seated there nursing a large cup of coffee. He looked better and what surprised me is the fact my cat, Patchwork had made friends with him. Calicos and tortoiseshell cats are not really known to be friendly to strangers but once and a while if they really like someone they will come up and be friends at once. Severus was smiling and talking with Patchwork who chirped in reply. I did not have the heart to scold the cat for sitting on the table as he was making a worn out spy very happy indeed.

Weeks passed and the students decided that a bit of cheer was needed. This was how Megan Jones, cousin to the famous Gwenog Jones had decided that she was going to teach safety to the school. She was Hufflepuff and was an average looking girl with her brown hair tied back in a bun as she took the "stage" at the front of the school. She was mentioned a few times in the books so I had known nothing about her and was surprised to see she had a furry puppet with her. It was a badger clad in a gray boys suit popular at the turn of the 19th century, but the badger did not wear shoes and stood looking over the crowd. It "blinked" it's eyes and I steadied myself for a very bad ventriloquist. A few in the audience recognized what Megan was doing, though ventriloquism was not common in the magical world it was not unheard of and a few purebloods even looked intrigued. Yet went she started her act I was blown away at how good she was, her lips never moved and I believed that the badger named Benny was talking.

"Good afternoon!" Megan said cheerfully, "today Benny the badger and I would like to tell you about a few safety rules to follow at Hogwarts!"

"Yes that is right!" Benny said in a surprising male voice, "hey you know I was thinking how funny it would be to turn a grandfather clock to a nail and hammer it to the wall."

"That would be bad."

"It would?"

The show went on in this vein, silly things like clocks turn to nails, or plates to paper and shredded seemed funny to Benny until Megan explained that the plates would turn back to shards and could cut someone and the grandfather clock could take out walls. I had a hard time not laughing, Benny's facial expressions were simple but got the message across. Even Minerva was hard pressed not to laugh as this was highly entertaining, Severus was as emotionless as he could be though I knew he was doing his very best to not laugh much less let a smile out. I did smile, how could I not, this was entertaining and the children loved it so. It is hard to write about how funny good ventriloquist is but she was and so very talented as well. When she was done she got a standing ovation from every house, even Slytherin and I felt that things had gone very well with this.

Things turned serious after this for me, I had to pull more than one student apart due to the book on Tom Riddle that had now been read by most everyone within and without Hogwarts. Most Slytherins had denounced him and I was surprised that trouble came from other houses. What really shocked me was the fact that it was a Gryffindor who attacked Harry, Cormac McLaggen, from the ancient house of McLaggen, an honorable house attacked Harry with several curses and damn near killed him. I came on the scene and saw Neville was dueling McLaggen and was holding his own against him. Several Ravenclaw students joined to protect Harry and then some Hufflepuff and quite a few Slytherin. Yet there were a few who joined McLaggen, Theodore Nott, Robert Stebbins, Mandy Brocklehurst, a war was about to break out in Hogwarts and I stepped forward to stop it when Dumbledore appeared and I could see why he was the most feared wizard alive. Power rolled off him and he was very, very angry.

"Who dared start a war in my school?" He said coldly.

"Ask Potter, he started it with that book of lies!" McLaggen snarled.

"It's not lies, ghosts can't lie and every bit of that book is truth!" Harry said blood pouring down his face. "You dare attack me in these hallowed halls I will see you dead!"

"Enough!" Dumbledore said coldly, "Cormac, Theodore, Robert, Mandy you will all be held in the dark tower until the Aurors come for you, you are no longer students at this school." I said, "if that is what the headmaster agrees with of course?"

"I do, in this I do."

"If anyone ever attacks Harry again their blood will stain these floors." Blaise Zabini said and I was shocked, in the books he had never said much and what he said was never in support of Harry, "I mean it, this dark lord will be struck down and I take my side to see that happen! Who from Slytherin stands with me?"

Here it was, the line that was going to be drawn in the sand as it were, the Slytherins gathered here had a choice and a very public choice. I would see that they were kept safe if they made the right choice. One by one those here stepped to stand by Blaise, Draco could not as he was not here but I wondered if he would denounce the dark lord. Not a single Slytherin sided with Voldemort and I felt a thrill of hope. Blaise walked up to help take Harry to the hospital wing, Neville was on the other side and both helped him to the hospital wing. It seemed that maybe this younger generation would fight for what was right and not for some stupid dark lord. Students from all houses helped take the wands of the guilty, bind the and march them to the dark tower to be held until the Aurors came. I felt sad that they had chosen the dark and evil path but at least they would not get a chance to hurt anyone any more.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So yes Deloris did help steer Rita Skeeter in the right direction to come out with a nice book on our "favorite" dark lord. Yes I had to show a back lash and show that it's not always Slytherin who will stand by Voldemort and that they are not the house of the evil. The war is here and sides are being formed and Deloris does not always know fully what is going on. _

_Anyway, do please review!_


	14. Chapter 14: The Fall of a Spy

_Ruth Hammond: Thank you, I did want to bring up the tension and glad I could deliver!_

_MuggleCreator: Yes I do like redeeming Slytherins, but I know that it takes a bit of a shock to do so. Draco would not befriend Harry just to be his friend, unless they shared something, like a great shock for that to happen. Or for Draco to walk in Harry's shoes for a while. _

Chapter Fourteen: The Fall of a Spy:

Time passed and it was now the start of Easter break and there was a reason I was seated with Fudge and Percy our time of secrecy was over. Fudge had to officially state that Voldemort was back, the reason for this? Both Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy had been found dead in Hogsmeade that caused the ancient village to go into lock down. Fudge had worked very hard to beef up not only the Aurors and hit wizards, he had taken my advice and made an army, made of muggleborn mostly. I had been sarcastic when I had said he should use the muggleborn but he had taken me seriously. I was not sure how this would play out for the future but the army was approved by the Queen (she was the true head of state even in the magical world as we are the secret member of the commonwealth) and at least the muggleborn could not be treated as they had been in the books.

The deaths of the Malfoys had lead to Fudge publically stating that Voldemort was back and that he was more than ready for him. The project that the twins had been working on had come through too, they had come up with a necklace or earrings that a witch or wizard could wear that repelled the imperious and Obliviate curses. Fudge had snapped up the lot and outfitted every Auror, hit wizard, army member and member of the ministry with one. The twins were making more I knew and hopefully every witch and wizard would be armed against the curse with these and that would halt Voldemort for good. I had on a set of pretty earrings the dear boys had given me and felt safer for them. Fudge was seated in his office after his press conference and he looked older but far more determined than ever before, seemed he could do the right thing when pressed.

"Any word on the Malfoy boy?" Fudge asked.

"No, once he heard what happened to his parents he vanished." I said, "I think he is in hiding for now."

"I hope he is safe." Percy said, "my family may not get along with the Malfoys but I don't want the brat dead."

"Well, at least the public are not too scared." I said, "glad we have the army at least."

"Something we have not had for two hundred years, same amount of time we have used Dementors at Azkaban." Fudge replied.

"I wish we would just get rid of them, the goblins could guard the prison." I replied.

Fudge did not say anything about that, he knew my views on Dementors and I knew how far I could push him. He was actually pleasant to work with, he had even taken the monies he had got in bribes to outfit the Aurors and hit wizards himself. Sure most of what he did was out of fear but deep down there was a good man left inside, he would be poor at the end of the war but he seemed more noble now that he was willing to do the right thing. At least I hoped he still was, he was, after all a politician and knew how to bend the truth and outright lie like the best of them.

I decided to visit Grimmauld Place and see how Harry was doing. I entered the house to find it in an uproar. Harry was running to the kitchen with Fred, George and Ginny after him. At first I thought he might have pranked them but the looks on their faces were dead serious. I headed down the kitchen and saw the twins getting medical supplies ready with Ginny while Draco Malfoy (so that is where he got to) stood up at the same time as Sirius in alarm. It was good they did as two figures Apparated into the kitchen, one was Rita Skeeter, the other was Severus Snape. Severus did not look good, blood was everywhere from his neck, then again having one's neck chewed on never was a pleasant sight. It looked as if Nagini had got him and got him rather badly as he was bleeding out rapidly. Rita got him to the table and Fred and George held him down as he began to convulse. I watched in shock as Harry got his coat and shirt open and pressed a wad of gaze at his neck. Ginny stepped up and with her wand cut open his undershirt, took out a very large needle and filled the syringe attached.

"What is going on?" I managed to stammer out.

"Voldemort, used Nagini to attack the professor." Harry replied, "knew he was going to do this, saw it, Ginny he is fading fast!"

"Not my godfather!" Draco screamed and he lunged forward only to be caught by Sirius who held the teen back, "let me go!"

"No they seem to have this." Sirius said, "let them work, you had better have this Harry!"

"Ginny does, hurry please!" Harry said.

Severus was starting to foam at the mouth and he was seizing badly, his eyes rolled back in his head, Ginny stepped up to jab the large needle into his heart. She emptied the syringe into Severus and stepped back to watch. It took a minute but I could see the seizures finally stop and his breathing evened out. Harry removed his hands from the wound and it closed before my eyes, there would be a scar but at least Severus would live. Ginny went to work again (since when was she a healer?) and got Severus to drink down several potions. Then with several flicks of her wand she cleaned him up nicely and repaired his undershirt. Draco ran to him and Severus sat up slowly to take him in his arms.

"I can't loose you too godfather!" Draco sobbed (hey it was not unmanly to cry at a time like this at all) "not like mother and father!"

"It seems I am in good hands, I am going to stay with you, I am here." Severus said holding him, "those that harmed your family will pay."

"What happened, what is going on?" I asked.

"Yes that is what we all would like to know." Sirius said fixing Harry with a look.

"It started when professor Umbridge here did something to block Voldemort from my mind, when she taught me Occulumency I found I could still get into Tom's head. I used what he knew to warn others."

"What others?" I asked.

"Us." Fred replied, "we have helped get back at old Tommy boy."

"Yes, dwarves are dead useful you see, with the information they gathered from our fourth year when the glittery git was the defense professor…" George said.

"They added protective wards to the school, really so many did not wonder why dwarves allowed themselves to be dressed up as cupids? " Fred sighed.

"Yes, we wondered and asked them and they told us the truth." George added.

"So they have helped us get targeted families to safety."

It clicked then, there had been three families that had disappeared, the Stone family, an ancient healing family of Parselmouths, the Roy family, the magical side of the famous Roy family made famous by the rascal but honorable Rob Roy, and the Green family, a family known for defensive magic. I turned to Sirius and gave him a steady look, one he did not back down from. Oh he knew I knew what he had been doing now, the deaths of the evil werewolves under Grayback, the destruction of six evil vampire clans (with the help of course of Dracula) and the deaths of a clan of hags. Sirius was hunting the Horcruxes too, I had no proof of the last but it made since, Bill had to be helping as he was a curse breaker and he could destroy them, in fact he had and was quite good at it.

There was more, I knew about dwarves, they were not well-liked and with little magic of their own they would have been exploited badly if not for one thing. Remember that goblins had at one time been all evil and dwarves, high elves (no they are not immortal but are very long lived) and humans had been their enemies. The goblins who had rebelled and turned from evil had pledged themselves to the dwarves and a, well not fully friendship but an alliance from that point forward. Dwarves are amazing miners, goblins not so much, so it is dwarves who do most of the mining in the magical world while goblins make much of the metals and such used in the magical world. Dwarves did have one magic that really was all theirs that they shared with humans, runes, and it was that reason they came to Hogwarts to add new protective wards in Harry's second year.

This made since, twice Hogwarts was attacked (in a future I was hoping to prevent), once a few death eaters got in through the room of requirement, there should have been far more deaths and injuries as Voldemort had tried to send an army through to take the school. What happened is the runes activated and shut down the room and the wardrobe the death eaters tried to get through en-mass and at the Battle of Hogwarts the castle should have been raised but yet again the runes held and managed to save the school. I am guessing the dwarves came back to add even more runes to protect the school and grounds after that. I knew I had to talk with them and get them back to Hogwarts, Hogwarts had to be protected and I wondered if they would not mind taking up residence in the chamber of secrets now the snake was no longer there.

"I know you want me safe professor." Harry said giving me his best puppy dog look, "but I have a destiny, I have to fight, I was chosen and I cannot back down."

"He really can't." Rita said giving Harry a hug, "I was so wrong about him, and well I can't say I am sorry enough for how cruel I was."

"You have helped so much, you helped save professor Snape." Harry replied.

"Well my form is much more useful for that sort of thing, better than what I was using it for, how I could be so wicked…"

"You are not now, you really are not." Sirius said taking her in his arms and kissing her, "I love you."

"Why, I am evil, wicked and I fear I will fall back into my old ways." Rita said sighing, "I thought I was doing what was right, exposing others, but deep down…"

"You knew it was wrong." Harry replied, "don't worry you are not evil, not at all."

"Not like me." Dracula said limping into the room, half his hair was gone and that half of his face was horribly burned, "I smell blood."

"Here!" Harry said yanking open a door and pulling out a unit of blood, "drink this, don't you dare start on any of us."

"Did that come from a blood bank?" I asked appalled.

"No, this is from people who sold their blood, not from donors that go to the hospitals." Dracula said, "I do try to be so very good, now that I can buy it human blood I don't have to subsist on pigs or cows blood, though this is cold."

"Stop whining, or I will stake you!" Harry snapped.

"What happened to you?" Bill said walking into the room, "who burned you?"

"Dumbledore, this is the reason, a Horcrux, he became a bit unreasonable." Dracula said, "well you better get to destroying it then."

"Right, got my tools here." Bill replied.

I watched with interest as Bill placed a piece of white silk on the table and then put the ring on that. I had thought this ring had been destroyed, but I was wrong and in a moment a very angry Dumbledore came into the room. He tried to get at the stone but Bill flicked his wand and shields went up. Then he started to work on the ring, he took out what looked like totems, placed them just so and began to chant. A real battle began I could see and he fought hard to remove the shard from the ring, finally after a hour a black shade came from the ring screaming in horror and vanished into thin air. Bill stepped back and took a seat looking wore out. Dumbledore walked up to take the ring but Sirius stopped him with a hand on his getting the headmaster to look at him in shock.

"I know what this is and I can say that no good can come from your trying to bring her back." Sirius said, "her life was torment, do you want to bring her back to that?"

"I want to know the truth!" Dumbledore said his eyes sad and angry all at once.

"It was not you, or him, she scarified herself to bring you back from the edge." Sirius replied.

"Then I am to blame…"

"No, she saved you, but could not save him though she did try, how she tried." Sirius replied sadly.

I looked at Sirius keenly, I did not know this man at all, from the books I had learned he was a bully along with Harry's father in Hogwarts. He had tried to curse Severus in front of Harry even, though Severus had pushed all his buttons but still! But he did have a good heart and it was showing here, that and it seemed he had learned things as well. Well he was a Black, a true Black and was trying his level best to bring honor back to that ancient and noble house. He was doing things to stop Voldemort and though he could be a loose canon he did care about doing what was right, even if he had to kill evil people to stop them from ever hurting others.

"Very nice blood." Dracula said as he started to rapidly heal up, "it tastes better when give willingly."

"It does?" I asked.

"Yes, no pain in it, goes down better." He replied.

"Ah, well you are still a horrible monster!" Remus said growling as he came into the room, "and yes Severus I am aware once a month I am a real monster, and a coward and evil."

"No you are not a coward, not your fault you were banned from being around me or contacting me in anyway." Harry replied.

"You should hate me…"

"No, stop that." Harry replied, "stop that now, it's not your fault, the ministry was evil and cruel in what they did to you."

"Yes they were, but now as for you young man, what have you been doing?" I asked Harry.

Harry had been one very busy teen wizard, it seemed his connection ran one way and with the attention now back on him he explained what he had been doing. He had seen the things Voldemort had been trying to do, the alliances he had tried to make and had told Sirius. Sirius in turn had nullified the threat and had gotten the respect of the giants, after he had learned that armor piercing rounds worked wonders against giants, he had killed three before they agreed to his terms. The war was not going as well as Voldemort had hoped and even Cornelius had gotten on board to up the Aurors, hit wizards and even a small army. I did not feel I had done a thing, just a few things here and there but it was really others who stepped up to make things better, to take the war to Voldemort instead of the other way around. Severus got up wearily from the chair he had been seated in and the house elves went to work cleaning as Severus was ordered to shower then go straight to bed by Molly. I hoped things would work out but I knew that Voldemort was not going to take kindly to loosing Severus as he had and would attack but I had no idea where.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Now we start to get a feel for how much Deloris knows here, not as much as one would think. That is okay, Harry has been keeping secrets but to protect her, he is far more involved in the war this early on than ever and Sirius does know all about Dumbledore and his sister. He does not judge him for it (how can he with the family he comes from and the stuff he did in school?) The Horcruxes are finished with, Draco is still a spoiled brat but one who has lost his family and he will play a part from now on. Oh and yes Ginny has been, in this story training to be a healer but I am not sure who she will end up with yet, I am thinking Neville…_

_Anyway, do review please_


	15. Chapter 15:A Princes' Tale

Chapter Fifteen: A Princes' Tale:

The next morning saw me up early and seated at the kitchen table. Molly was cooking this morning happily, pancakes with maple syrup. Now pancakes are not really an English thing, but as Molly told me she had a friend from Canada in school and she had taught her how to make them and how they really were great for breakfast. So the Weasley family was one of the very few in England to eat pancakes for breakfast, with real maple syrup that Molly's friend sent each year and in turn Molly sent her excellent gooseberry jam. Draco came into the room first and sat nearer Molly than me, Molly had taken the normally very snobbish surly teen under her wing and treated him as another of her children, Malfoy or not. He was a orphan and needed motherly love and one of the first things she had done when he had been brought here was comfort him. Now he was treated just the same as the other teens and though he had his moments he was starting to turn out decent.

Harry came down, nodded at Malfoy and took a seat near Molly as well, hmm, seemed the orphaned boys had choice seats after all. The rest of the Weasleys filed in along with Sirius, Remus and Hermione. They took seats just as Severus, still a bit tired after all he had gone through came into the room. He was wearing jeans, a gray thermal shirt with a green tee shirt over that had an apple on it, so Bill had shared his wardrobe as Dumbledore had not come through with bringing him his things, yet. Severus took a seat just as the house elves levitated the first of the hot pancakes and real breakfast sausage, (not the store bought stuff that is more cardboard than meat) to the table. Severus smiled and after grace everyone tucked in. The pancakes were divine, what else can I say to that? I loved them as did everyone else and we all made short work of the lovely fluffy stacks. After breakfast we headed to the sitting room while the house elves went to work on the dishes.

"I am sure everyone here wants to know what got me to even join the dark lord?" Severus asked.

"Yea, I mean you gave as good as you got in school but that shocked me to learn you did join him." Sirius said, "and I thought I knew you well."

"Well you did not, thing is in school though you and James along with Remus and Pettigrew did bully me that did not get me to join the dark lord."

"Call him a…" at a pointed look at me Harry quickly changed that to "the dark dork or Tommy boy please."

"Fine, and the marauders, you think death eaters is a bad name the marauders? You named yourselves after people who stole from good hard working folks, peasants mostly and killed many and did other horrible things?" I said, "are you mad?"

"Um, well James thought it was cool?" Sirius replied.

"Shows what little brains he had." Severus muttered, "anyway back to why I decided to join the dark monster. You see I simply did not care who I hurt in the end. At first as a first year I was a good little kid, well as good as one could get, but I found the dark arts and started to study them. My mother warned me away from the true dark arts, the ministry has done no-one any favors by stating that many good arts that do not hurt or harm are dark. No those were not the things I was going for, I was going for the things that are true dark arts, the nasty evil spells. Your father and friends Harry were for the most part an annoyance but that was all. Your mother saw right through me and could not remain friends and she was right! I should have listened to her, she is dead because of my selfish evil ways."

"Not exactly." Sirius said, "that was the dark dork, so what caused you to come back if I can ask?"

"Well it didn't happen for a long time and what happened next I am so ashamed of." Severus said, "it was after I joined the, Tommy boy, I did not have to do much in the way of killing or anything like that. He does not do dark revels, I think it is more that he can't join in them so he does not have them than anything else. I brewed for him and even created spells for him, anything and everything I wanted. Then, then I heard a prophecy, and I told him."

Here Severus got emotional, he refused to cry but it was clear he felt real guilt. What was interesting was the fact no-one was shouting at him, nor calling for his head. Not even Harry who was calmly watching him, waiting to see what he had to say for himself. Sirius too was quiet, he was calm too, no anger or anything. It seemed everyone wanted to hear what Severus's explanation was as did I. I had not realized that he really had been headed down a dark evil path and had not cared. I too wanted to know what caused him to turn back to the light and to what was good and right.

"At first I did not care who he went after, I was so far gone at this point I simply did not care." Severus said.

"So what caused you to turn back?" Harry asked calmly.

"Your grandmother." Severus replied, "your grandmother Harriet, on your mother's side, you are named after her. She was a saint but at this time she was already dead and like I said I had turned so far from the light and what was good and right well nothing could get me to turn back but an intervention. I got one, she visited me after she died and she was not happy with me. I will not tell you what she said, it is too precious to me but in short I repented of my evil ways and went to Dumbledore and told him everything, he was not happy with me and had every right not to be. He saw through my half truth of just wanting to save your mother Harry, and I had to tell him the truth, he is the only one who knows what Harriet said to me. I forced him to make an unbreakable vow with me."

"Who was your bonder?" Harry asked, then realization came over him, "it was my mum wasn't it? I want you to tell me now."

"Wow, he is his mother's child, you were bound to not say anything as was Dumbledore, unless Harry asked am I right?" Sirius said.

"You do have some brain cells after all." Severus shot at him, "and yes, Lily was our bonder, and James was there too."

"Why did you act as if you hated him?" Harry asked.

"I hated what he was in school, a bully, but then I was too in a way, we all were not very nice." Severus replied, "I am bound to stay away from true dark arts and to defend all that is good and right by any means necessary or I die."

"Besides you loved Lily and he was supposed to keep her alive. Well he did try but we all know how evil and determined Riddle can be." Remus said.

"And you disliked me as I did cheek you in the first potions lesson I had with you and kept blaming you for things you did not do." Harry said, "I am sorry."

"Apology accepted." Severus replied. "But I did get your mother killed, and for that…"

"No you bloody well did not!" Sirius said "you came back, if you truly had anything to do with killing her…."

"But I did…"

"As if!" Molly said, "you came back, you told Dumbledore on pain of death, if you… Tommy boy had learned what you had done, well he would have made an example of you!"

"Still I am sorry Harry." Severus said.

"Apology accepted." Harry said, "though you are the bravest man I ever knew for standing up to that thing."

"Agreed, though you still need to wash your hair." Sirius said.

"Certainly, after you take a flea bath." Severus shot back, "and get treated for STDs…"

"Severus! There are children here!" Arthur warned him.

"They need to know that Sirius is not virgin in human or…"

"Finish that and you will be doing lines." I warned him getting him to look at me wide-eyed, "I mean it, you will I am old enough to be your mother!"

"Fine, but I am sorry for all the harm I caused." Severus said turning the conversation back, "I was evil and wicked…"

"So was Paul and look how he turned out." Harry said, "I mean he helped kill early Christians and then he too received and intervention on the road to Damascus."

"That is very true." Draco said surprising me, he studied the bible as well, did he believe? "He became a great teacher and good man, spreading the good speak to all and he did die for it in the end."

"You are Christian?" Harry asked him.

"I well, not a very good one." Draco replied, "I have not been, I was, well I was not nice to you, I was turning out to be as bad as the dark dork and I am sorry for every mean thing I did. I swear I will do my best to be a better wizard I swear it!"

"Glad to hear it, we could be friends?" Harry asked.

"Why not." Ron added, "as long as you do not act like a spoiled git."

"I can try." Draco said, "I really can, you think there is hope for me?"

"Yes, if I can become good and noble there is hope for you." Sirius said.

"As if, you are the worst sort of example for any young boy or girl to follow!" Severus snapped at him, "I may be strict in class, and I will never apologize for that, but you, you are worse, you let these little brats get away with anything and everything!"

"It's only too true." Molly said, "but then he is just a big child himself, let him be Severus, we will be the ones to discipline the children, and that includes Sirius."

Sirius's looked at her wide-eyed and knew he had been had and it was well deserved of course. It seemed new alliances were made and Severus, well I knew from the books he had joined Voldemort willingly the first time. But I also knew he was not evil as he put his life on the line time and time again to protect not only Harry but others as well. If anyone had been redeemed it was him, though he was still a bit of a prickly man at times though I did like him.

That night I went to sleep and had a dream, no it was not a dream, it was real and I was seeing the real Doloris for the first time. I saw I was myself before I ended up in her body and was clad in a light blue robe that looked good on me. She was clad in pink and looked furious. Oho, so she could see what I was doing and did not like it, oh this was precious and I started to laugh. I could not help it, how I had hated this woman reading the books, how I wanted to see her suffer and she was! Seeing me do the things she hated well that was perfect! An old man who looked rather like father time came up smiling at both of us.

"Hello, I am Chaos." He said, and that did not surprise me at all, "don't look it do I?"

"No, let me guess you got bored and decided to mess with things?" I said, "you will not put her back, she cannot be allowed near Harry!"

"I don't intend to, I just wanted you two to meet." Chaos said.

"I demand you give me my life back!" Doloris screamed.

"Why so you can hurt people?" I snarled advancing on her, "you are sick, evil and love to hurt others."

"Yes, yes I do, people need to feel pain, I need to inflict it, don't be shocked you have seen my mind." Doloris said smiling sickly sweet.

"Yes, and I did purge the most base sick parts of you out!" I snapped, "I know what you would have done had you taught at Hogwarts, blood quills and curses, you are sick, evil and I am so glad have taken over and can change things you horrible hag!"

"I can kill you." Doloris said.

"You can try, but then you will be dead." I said turning to Chaos, "can I go back, I don't want to be around this slim, she is making me dirty."

"As you wish!" Chaos said, "have fun, and you can continue to watch Doloris."

"Wait it is my life!"

"Should have kept your promises then."

I was back in bed and felt so very happy as I got up that morning and got ready for the day. Doloris was trapped, had to watch me basically destroy her wicked life and there was not a thing she could do about it. I was liking my life and all I was able to do here, sure in the books Doloris was one evil, evil hag but I could change that. I was changing that and Harry had me to look up to. I cared for him and wished he was my own son, why not? He was a dear boy and a great boy that anyone would be proud to call son, his relations really did not know what they had missed out on refusing to have much to do with him growing up. Oh and Severus, well he was a dear too, a man who had made mistakes, grave ones too but who worked so hard to redeem himself each and every day.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So there is Severus's tale, I have always liked him. When he gave his first speech in the first book I adored him for being so truthful. When he only took a point off Harry had did not give him detention for cheek (Harry would have had detention for his remark if it was me) I applauded his restraint. Time and again he risked his life and sanity to do what was right. However he did join Voldemort willingly, but he came back and I wanted to show a bit more of what caused him to come back. Bottom line is he was the true hero of the series as far as I am concerned, right up there with Harry._

_So the real Doloris has seen what Deloris is doing and is not happy. I did this self insert as a way to punish the real Doloris, and now you can see I made it so that Doloris has been forced to watch the whole thing! Revenge comes in many forms, some a little less flashy than others._

_Anyway please review!_


	16. Chapter 16: War is Declared

_Thank you everyone for all your wonderful reviews! For taking so long to post this! Life got in the way and all, but here is chapter 16!_

Chapter Sixteen: War is Declared:

By the end of the week Easter break was over and it was time to head back to Hogwarts. Severus headed back and spoke with his Slytherins, and from what I heard they accepted him to a man as it were. Harry was back at studying even harder as his OWLs were coming up fast and calming draughts were becoming the hit for many an overworked student. Yet one evening things took turn and I was not really sure about what happened. It was dinnertime and evening was settling over the land. The students were eating when the enchanted ceiling dimmed to show a night sky and the candles went out leaving the torches in the walls going. A screen came down over the entry doors and I wondered who had done this prank and was about to go off when a movie started to play.

No, it was _not_ a movie, not at all and everyone was watching what I knew was the prophecy hall at the ministry. Several figures entered the room, they were all clad in loose black robes and white masks, death eaters every one of them. With them was Voldemort and was he ugly! I mean the movies really did him justice but in life it was just that much worse. He really did have red eyes and slits where his nose should be, he was skeletal as well and his loose layers of silk robes did not hide this fact. He was as ugly as anything I had ever seen and many students were getting scared and starting to cry. That is until Voldemort picked up an orb on a shelf and a voice boomed out.

"WITCHES AND WIZARDS GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO LORD VOLDEMORT!"

"Oh no, that is the damn mutt!" Severus growled.

"Yes, yes it is him." I said and a nursery rhyme started to play, you know, London Bridge is Falling Down? "oh no, he didn't, he couldn't!"

Yes Sirius Black could, and I cannot write down what was sung to the tune of an old nursery rhyme. It was vulgar and funny and all about Voldemort, and very rude and insulting as well. The students started to laugh, as the song went on and got more vulgar as it went on. This got Voldemort worked up into a frothing spitting rage, he was screaming and throwing curses but the prophecy room had been warded to stop him from harming anything. I did my level best to not smile or show I was finding this funny and I could see Severus was doing the same, so was McGonagall. Dumbledore was not amused but the students were. Harry was really having a great time and was laughing hard now.

"I will kill who ever did this!" Voldemort snarled, "it was Potter, I know it was Harry Potter."

"Not this time." Harry said, "though I know who, wait he is you know who, so what does that make…"

"Harry, shut up." Hermione snapped, she was not going to let him go off on a tangent, again.

"I will kill you Harry Potter!" Voldemort snarled, "and your little dog too!"

"Oh no, he didn't!" Harry said howling with laughter, he staggered from the table and flopped to the floor sitting there laughing so hard I was sure he could not breathe "that…oh that hurts…too funny…can't believe…he said that…."

"How _dare_ you laugh at me Harry Potter!" Voldemort said looking around wildly, so he _could_ hear what was going on in the great hall, or Harry at least, "you will learn to fear me."

"Can't help it, you are really small, Voldy has a teeny…"

"Mr. Potter!" We, meaning all the professors at the head table said as one.

"But he does, I was there you think he came out of that cauldron clothed? I still have nightmares about that, how can a man be so small?"

"I will kill you boy!" Voldemort screamed. "You hear me, you are dead Harry Potter, dead I tell you!"

"That is quite enough of that." McGonagall said.

"MR. PADFOOT AGREES WITH MISS TABBY, VOLDEMORT WILL LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK, IF HE COMES BACK HE WILL GET TO HEAR MORE OF MY FINE SINGING VOICE." Sirius boomed out.

The screen went blank and I knew Voldemort was going to escape, there was really nothing for it. I would learn that none of his death eaters with him that day would survive, all died and I cannot say I was unhappy about that. Harry was laughing still and I could not understand how he could, he had a death warrant over his head! Voldemort would come and try to kill him and all he did was laugh about it? Severus walked over to the teen who was completely out of control as he could not stop laughing. He looked up at a glowering Severus and tried to stop but could not and Severus took a vial out of his robes.

"I will dose you Harry if you do not calm down now!" Severus warned him.

"But that was funny! I needed the laugh!" Harry whined as only a teen can whine.

"Potter you are mental, the dark dork threatened your life!" Draco said, "and all you can do is laugh about it?"

"I am a Gryffindor Draco, we laugh in the face of danger."

"And that is why your house is mental Minerva." Flitwick said to Minerva who glared at him, "here have some chocolate my dear?"

"That poor boy, to have such a monster go after him and to think I went to school with him!" Minerva said, "well for a bit that is, Tom was such a nice boy, a real charmer, how could he have turned into that?"

It was something many would like to know the answer to. Many in the psychology field would state he was mental deficient in some way, that he snapped and broke. But I like most knew the truth, he was evil, and gave into evil at a very young age. There was no reason for him to turn out the way he did, none at all. He had been an orphan and raised in a good environment, well as good as a poor orphanage could be. Those who took care of the children did care very much for the children. Mrs. Cole did drink, but that was to help with the pain of the fact she could not give the children everything they could need. Some days she took her own money to get food for them and went without. All so the children were taken care of. Tom Marvolo (he did not deserve the honorable last name of Riddle, after all he killed his own father and grandparents) was pure evil and he chose to be that way!

The very next morning Sirius Black strode into the school looking a bit tired but he brightened up at the roar from the students. They cheered him, Fred and George hugged him and mocked sobbed they were not worthy. Several Slytherins toasted him and even Severus had nothing to say but nodded to him and went back to his breakfast. Harry ran up and hugged him not caring who saw him give his godfather a hug. Sirius returned it then walked up to the head table where Severus just cast a very strong shield charm around himself and went on with his eating. Sirius just grinned and actually left him alone, then again he did not have a death wish and really did not want to be bested yet again against one Severus Snape.

"So how did I do?" Sirius asked grinning widely. "How angry was he?"

"About fit to burst, it was so funny!" Harry said, "he deserved it!"

"He threatened to kill you!" Minerva said, "how can you be so happy at a time like this?"

"He is Harry, a bit mental he is." Fred said.

"Yea, but we love him." George chimed in, "he is Harry, just Harry, a scrawny…"

"Messy haired!"

"Git!"

"Love you too mates!" Harry said, "I want to go to Honeydukes!"

"As you wish." Sirius said, "Deloris, come with us?"

"No you can go with him, just behave, I don't want to hear you upset the villagers again Mr. Black!"

"Oh well then I will just redecorate ol' Snape's office!"

"I will neuter if you do." Severus said still eating, "lock you in your dog form and sell you to a muggle lab!"

"Point taken." Sirius said, "anyone else want to come?"

"It would be nice to get out." Dumbledore said eyes twinkling, "I need more sweets myself."

"Oh joy." Severus muttered.

"In fact Severus my boy I would love it if you joined me!" Dumbledore said.

Severus muttered something that sounded similar to "kill me now" but rounded up all his students third year and up to go to Hogsmeade. A hour after breakfast near six hundred students were descending on a large village of five thousand. They took turns going through Honeydukes and other shops, Dumbledore bought a lot of sweets of every kind. Severus got his favorites and surprised me with an edible pink chocolate rose. I was thrilled and happy he would get this for me. I in turn handed him a small bag I did _not_ get from Zonko's. All in all it was a fun time that sunny spring day, quiet and lazy despite all the children about. If only things could stay this way I would be very happy, but I knew that Voldemort had to die. He was mortal now and as much as I hated it Harry had to kill him, Voldemort had activated a prophecy and Harry was stuck no matter how I ranted and raved in private about that.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_Yes Sirius was immature but Voldemort needs to be unhinged. He did weaken him and hopefully that will help Harry when he goes to battle him. Voldemort is loosing, most of his death eaters are dead and really he has lost. Did the first time he created a Horcrux after all._

_Anyway, do review please!_


	17. Chapter 17: The Last Stand

_I want to thank everyone for their reviews! They do mean so much to me, sorry for how long it took to get to this chapter! It's up now and I hope you enjoy, there are lots of religious themes through this but they do fit. After all I don't see Harry doing everything himself, he is a walking miracle as it is!_

Chapter Seventeen: The Last Stand:

The end of the school year was on us and it was time for Harry to take his OWLs. He was stressed out, but I remembered those days and yes, it is true that those kind of things do build character. Well they had not in Doloris, she was a piece of work let me tell you, and how ironic I was now her and trying to make a better world at the same time. I felt I had not done as much as I could and wished I could do more to stop Voldemort. I remember heading to Hogsmeade and thinking of enjoying a nice Butterbeer talking with Fern Rosmerta, the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks, most people knew her as madam Rosmerta but a few called her by her first name Fern. Her parents had to have a very good since of humor, or the Wizarding world did what with their names and all.

I never did make it, all I remember is everything going black and waking up tied to a chair with Voldemort over me. I was not amused, a bit scared but not as terrified as I really should be. But then again Voldemort looked horrible, not scary but horrible, like a human who had blended with a snake horrible. I knew this is what he was and it was hard to believe this had once been a very handsome man with lovely black hair and blue eyes. Now those eyes were blood red with slits for pupils and slits for a nose. He was skeletal as well, and as white as bone. He was clad in layers of silk black robes and looked at me with amusement.

"Tom?" I said wanting to unnerve him, hey if I was going to die than it would be on my terms, not his, "Tom Riddle? What have you done to yourself?"

"Don't you call me by that filthy name!" He snarled.

"But Tom, why all this?" I continued, "we were in school together! You had the world at your feet then, you are the heir of a founder, why did you chose to become a dark lord?"

"I will rule this world!" He hissed, "and I will start by killing Harry Potter!"

"You could have been minister of magic, or even prime minister." I continued, "never have to hide, why go the route of a dark lord Tom?"

"I am Lord Voldemort and you will refer to me as such!" He shouted.

"I don't see you as that Tom, I never could." I replied.

I was unnerving him, I could see it, he was not happy, not happy at all and I knew he had fallen too far to change. He could have had the world, I mean he had a chance to own the world, why Slughorn was more than willing to help him but Tom Riddle had turned from it all and became a dark lord. I could not understand it, he could have been minster of magic, could have changed the world for the better but he chose a different route. There simply was no need for that! Doloris too had been evil, I knew that now and if not for me taking over her body I am sure she would have joined this evil once-man before me. I could not, I was not raised that way (nor was she) and I chose to not give into evil. I could not understand why so many did it made no since to me!

"He will come and he will die!" Tom said, I could not and would not call him Voldemort, "and you and everyone else will see him die!"

"So at the ministry?" I asked praying that he was not thinking of Hogwarts, I could not help but think of the children there, "how droll."

"Once he is dead than I will take what is mine!" Tom ranted.

"What is yours Tom?" Came the voice of Dumbledore.

"Don't you call me that I am Lord Voldemort!" Tom screamed.

"No you are Tom Marvolo Riddle, born of Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, your father never did know who you were until you came and killed him. He never deserved what your mother than what you did to him." Harry said and my heart sunk, I did not want him here, I did not want my Harry here, yes he was mine and I could not have him get hurt! "Are you alright?" He asked me after he unbound me with a flick of his wand.

"Fine, Tom and I were having a chat." I replied fingering the pendent under my suit, "thanks for the pendent, you brat you put a charm on it!"

"Of course, could not let my gran get hurt could I?" He said giving me a brief hug then turning to Tom, "Tom, shall we?"

"You will die today!" Tom snarled, "I am Lord Voldemort!"

"You are Tom Marvolo, you don't even deserve the last name Riddle, that was an honorable family that you tainted!" Harry snapped back. "In fact let it be known that Tom Marvolo is not to be associated with the honorable family of Riddle ever again!"

"You will die." Tom said, "and the world will burn!"

"One day I will, but I am your judgment sent from God to deal with you!" Harry said.

Harrys eyes glowed green, I had not seen that ever but read about it happening. In fact his body glowed for a moment and I realized I was seeing something far beyond magic in effect. Harry was becoming something more than human for the moment and I hoped he survived whatever was happening. Dumbledore moved forward to help Harry but I held him back and shook my head. He understood and watched sadly as Harry and Tom stepped into the middle of the death chamber of the ministry and here both began to duel. Harry was not this good, he was not, he was as good as a boy of his age could be but he was doing more than magic here. I was in awe watching the power of angels and God go through him. If ever there was a doubt in many minds there was a God I hoped this would show them that he was real.

The end was predictable, and Harry really had "the power he knows not" it was love of a sort, the pure love one has for the world and the wish to protect and keep it safe. This is the love Harry had and I nearly wept at this as the feelings that came were so pure, Harry would never go dark, he would not even be gray for that matter. Here was a young man, the world was put on his shoulders and he was expected to save the world. He might rant and rave and state it was unfair (which he did now and again) but Harry Potter was as pure and good as he could be. He took after one, who long, long ago willingly died for us on the cross when he could have come down and struck down all around dead who dared harm him. Harry was not fighting for himself, no, not at all he was fighting for a better future and fighting evil. No matter what evil could not win in the end, evil wanted to destroy, to control and hurt and harm, good did not want to do any of that and so evil would lose this day as it always did.

Finally the end came, Tom could not stand before Harry anymore and he staggered back as a holy light came and shoved him through the veil. Harry closed his eyes, sighed and fell to the floor in a dead faint. I was there to catch him and guide him down and hold him, rocking him slowly, crying as I held him. He was breathing slowly and was cold but he was alive! I was not sure how long he would live, if he had given his life for getting rid of Tom but only time would tell. Several wizards came forward and gently picked him up, with no magic and carried him in their arms. I was touched by this, and followed them out and up to the floo. There were hundreds here that spoke in hushed tones as Harry was taken to the floo and through, Sirius had taken over carrying his godson and he was crying. Then again there was hardly a dry eye in the whole ministry. Something had changed for the better and I was hit with what could only be described as a holy experience. I would never forget that as long as I lived I knew that. I just hoped that Harry did live as he was such a noble, wonderful and pure soul. Who could not want to willingly serve such a good man the rest of their days?

I stepped out of the floo to find Sirius tucking his godson into bed and Severus seated by him looking, well stunned. I had not seen him look like this ever and knew what caused it. He really did care about Harry, well he did care about nearly all the students (even foolish annoying Gryffindors) but Harry, well Harry just got into his heart just like with the rest of us. Sure he was still harsh and exacting with Harry but he did care which was why he was the way he was with his students and Harry. Harry slept for three days, on the third he finally did wake while I was having tea. I came as soon as I heard and saw him sitting up eating a large tea of his own looking very well. Severus was there with Sirius glaring at the teen boy who looked as normal as could be despite being out cold for so many days.

"So brat you had to call on a higher power and nearly die because of it?" Severus said coolly to him.

"Just admit you were worried and have done with it." I said walking up, "Harry, how are you?"

"Fine, very hungry, it was weird, I could feel this pure power through me and realized it was not me doing what needed to be done." Harry replied, "I asked God for help for what could I do, I am but a boy."

"And you used a holy power, that was not fully magic." Sirius replied, "though many will of course credit it to magic when magic cannot do anything like that. Same mistake that Pharaoh Ramses the second made with Moses."

"So you are religious?" I asked.

"If I was not before I am now, no magic could do what was done, it's not possible. Magic has limits, even Merlin with all his power could not have done what Harry did, well what was channeled through Harry at the end, you saw the light used. Harry is a miracle as it is, there are no spells, not even ones witches can do that would have saved him though Lily did her level best."

"So how I survived was God's will." Harry said, "wish everyone would just accept that and leave me alone, I do keep telling people I did nothing."

"We know mate." Ron said walking in, "but things happen to you because well, you are you mate."

"For once Ron is right." Hermione said walking up, "that is rare."

"Oi I said I was sorry…"

"Still does not mean you have brains." Ginny replied walking up to sit by Harry and kissing him on the cheek, "we were worried Harry, how do you feel?"

"Much better now thanks." Harry replied.

I decided to leave Harry to his friends and Sirius followed me. Nothing needed to be said, we both cared so much about Harry and that made us family in a way. Harry was such a good young man and one that was pure. He had not had a good life growing up at all but he had come out of that still pure and good. For him to be the way he was showed that there was hope in the world and that he was a very strong young man indeed. I smiled at my young man in the room behind me and knew that Harry was going to be just fine, that the war was over and that he would help build this world into something great.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So there was the battle, and Harry was helped quite a bit. I wanted to show that really he had a power that Voldemort could never know and used so well here. I always saw Harry as strong, surviving his relations and childhood and refusing to let that define his life. Standing up for what was right no matter how hard it got and yes, I used religion here. I think it fits very well, after all I know there is a God and he does love all of us, and likes to show that love. All we have to do is accept it._

_Anyway, do review please!_


	18. Chapter 18: The Aftermath

Chapter Eighteen: The Aftermath:

It was an interesting time after Voldemort was finally dead. It was over, the war was over and all there was left was some clean up of his followers. I found Harry seated with Draco and Luna outside the school seated with his head up against Ginny Weasley who was comforting him. At least I hoped that was what was going on, they were teens and could get into trouble and I could not let that happen. Luna Lovegood was getting closer to Draco, they were opposites to be true but it was clear that they actually went well together despite this. Draco defended her even when she had some strange things to say and I wondered if they would get together.

"Professor!" Harry said smiling up at me.

"Hello Harry, Draco, Luna, Ginny," I replied, "a lovely day is it not?"

"Yes, but I wish people would stop calling me savior." Harry grumbled, "I was helped in what I did and the only Savior died and rose long ago from the dead and lives still. I did what I had to but am no hero or savior."

"Well you did what none other could." Draco said, "had to be you for some reason."

"Oh yes, God chose him, though the nargles do get to him now and then he can fight them off" Luna replied.

"Yea, there is that Luna." Draco said smiling at her.

"So you can come stay with me this summer." Harry said to Draco, "don't mind Sirius, he will do anything I want."

"I will?" The insane Animagmus said walking up, "what makes you say that?"

"Please?" Harry said giving his best puppy dog look.

"That is not fair, you do that and I can't say no." Sirius said, "but I was going to ask Draco if he wanted to stay anyway, I don't mind at all."

"Thank you." Draco replied.

"You do have to try to be nice to Ron, he is my best friend you know." Harry said.

"I know the feud between the Weasleys and the Malfoys needs to end, which reminds me, Oi Red want to date me?" Draco said to Ginny.

"When hell freezes over ferret." Ginny shot back, "I have standards and dating you would only make me look badly."

"Ouch that had to have hurt." Sirius said, "oh well I think there is no chance for you Draco, no for Harry there is, past five generations Potters have had a weakness for red hair."

I had to head back to school to get ready to leave, I would be back to teach the next year, the curse all gone on the defense job. I loved teaching here, it was fun, the children wanted to learn and liked me as well. I was fair but strict and even Severus liked me, he found I was not just a ministry stooge and _wanted _to teach. I headed into the school and up the stairs and came up short. Severus was glaring at a young man I swore had to be a de-aged Albus Dumbledore. But as I looked I could see the difference, for one Albus would never dress in muggle jeans, or a tee shirt with lemon drop on it (well that he might), or a brown leather jacket. He would not tie his hair back nor would his beard be neatly trimmed, he had freckles scattered over his nose and his hair and beard were a deep red, his eyes were blue and did twinkle though.

"This annoyance is related to the headmaster, from America." Severus said as way of introduction.

"Brian Dumbledore, uncle Albus is my great grand uncle, my great grandfather came over to the states in the early twenties, had a few kids, my one of whom is my grandfather who was born in 1927, then my dad came along in 1946 and me in 1968. First time I ever came over, now that your dark lord is gone I feel it is safe for me to be here."

"And he annoys me." Severus muttered.

"Well all I said is potions is like cooking!" Brian said.

"It is not! It is far more detailed and nothing like cooking!" Severus snarled.

"Take the stick out Severus, I am only teasing." Brian said grinning, "friends?"

"I could poison you." Severus said silkily.

"As if you would." Brian said, "grand uncle wanted you to show me the school."

"Probably did not want to unleash an uncivilized American on anyone else, or he is trying to annoy me, though he does that enough." Severus said.

"He always like this?" Brian asked.

"He is in a very good mood." I replied, "trust me, if he is angry you will know, no this is his happy state."

"I am not happy, I am never happy." Severus snapped.

"Yes you are, when you make first years cry." I shot back.

I decided to join the tour, if only to get Severus to behave, and that was a full time job let me tell you. I liked him, I truly did, but he had a way to get himself into trouble with just words, and that was saying something as the English have an art with sarcasm that most Americans don't get, accept me. My friends in my past life knew me well and would tell others I was not being mean, it was sarcasm in its highest form. Still, this is Severus Snape we are taking about, the man who can get a first year to cry just with words alone. Brian started to like him, and by the end of the tour they were fast friends.

"So about this Harry kid, he really take out your dark lord with a higher power?" Brian asked.

"Yes, he did, though some idiots still see him using a higher magic, much like those who believe Merlin used magic to destroy slave magic that bound much of the magical and muggle world in slavery. It is still doing it's work today and I believe miss Granger has felt it and will find a way to fully free the house elves."

"Ah yes, our Brownie buddies." Brian said and at a pointed look from Severus, "they are not related to elves in any way, so why call them that? They are a kind of fae in fact, a good kind, like the Veela, not the other murdering changeling kinds. They are not slaves in America because of law, not fully because that its what they want. Still they wear uniforms, get paid and get sick time off and the right to leave an abusive family, they are not allowed to punish themselves nor can another demand they do. Still it will be a long road with them."

"I wonder what really made them they way they are?" I asked.

"Who knows, really, all we know is they were wild before Helga Hufflepuff gave them a home and they are such good little creatures too, I have a fondness for them." Brian replied. "So Harry Potter used a higher power, must be tied to his mom, has to be, she gave her life for her son to live and thrive, and God rewarded her by making sure that happened."

"I can see that, however he is still a brat, a selfless caring but annoying brat!" Severus said, "who should not listen into conversations that do not apply to him!"

"Cloak now Harry." I said and was rewarded with him removing the cloak and looking at me sheepishly, "why are you eavesdropping?"

"I wasn't really, I mean I just wanted some peace and quiet, the minister wanted to see me." Harry said, "and I didn't want to see him, not now, I don't like him much. I did not think anyone was going to be up here today."

"Very well, just don't get into trouble with that, I will know and I will take it away." I replied.

"Yes gran." Harry said cheekily.

"Oh Brian Dumbledore, this is Harry Potter, Harry Potter this is Brian Dumbledore the headmaster's great grand nephew."

"Pleased to meet you sir." Harry said.

"Likewise, don't blame you for wanting to hide, I could teach you some charms to help with that." Brian said.

"That would be brilliant sir!" Harry said.

"Call me Brian, I could show you now if you like."

Once more Harry made a new friend, it was easy for him, he was a likeable fellow. His years with his aunt had not damped his spirit, he refused to let the bad things in life crush him. He showed me what it was like to truly live and to enjoy life, he knew he could have had it far, far worse. He had told me tales of kids who came to school bruised up and in rags, he at least had two new school uniforms a year and three times a day he was allowed to eat. I still was not happy he was kept in a cupboard growing up nor that his cousin was a bully and would have turned to a complete waste of space if I had not made sure he ended up on the right track. Harry was an example of the kind of person that I wanted to be for sure, and he inspired many people around him.

School would be out in a few days and I looked forward to a quiet summer. I had grown used to being an evil hag who I had turned around for the better. Doloris Umbridge, the real one would never again be able to hurt another. I was glad for that, I knew there was going to be rebuilding and I would be part of it, I would teach and help as much as I could, that is if I was to stay here for life. For the first time in months I thought of my past life, I missed it but I was not sure if I would fit in if I did end up back there. I liked it here, I liked the people and I really liked, no loved Harry as if he were my own. I did not want to leave him not when he was as good as my child. As I packed I wondered what the future was to bring for me and realized that answer could wait. To quote a famous character tomorrow was another day, or something like that.

**O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O**

_So there is that, a nice way to round up everything after the battle. Yes Harry was helped and he knows it, and more of my personal believes here come through. If Harry were real he would be a walking living breathing miracle, there is no two ways about that. He was not suppose to survive, not really, so that leaves a miracle. _

_Anyway do review please!_


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